The prevalence of the rarer inherited haemoglobin defects in adult Jamaicans

ABSTRACT

The prevalence of several haemoglobin defects, including the traits for á-thalassaemia (0.8 percent), hereditary persistence of foetal haemoglobin (0.2 percent) and the abnormal delta change haemoglobin, Hb B2 (2.4 percent), were determined from the combined results of surveys conducted on adults in a suburban and a rural community. Mean Hb A2 levels of 2.6 ñ0.4 percent, 5.3 ñ0.5 percent and 2.0 ñ0.2 percent were found in 639 Hb A homozygotes, seven á-thalassaemia traits and three traits for hereditary persistence of of foetal haemoglobin (HPFH), respectively. Levels of alkali resistence haemoglobin (A.R.Hb) ranged from 0.6 to 7.3 percent in the thalassaemia traits and were 21.0, 19.0 and 16.0 percent in the three HPFH traits; the remaining 770 subjects in whom A.R.Hb was measured had a mean value of 0.6 ñ0.6 percent. (AU)