Prevalence of Hemoglobinopathies in Rural Bengal, India

Abstract

India is in the thalassemia belt of the world. Both α- and β-thalassemia (α- and β-thal) are found in West Bengal, a state in the eastern part of India. There was no systematic large published study to investigate the prevalence rates of different hemoglobinopathies in West Bengal. This study was conducted in school and college students, newly married couples and pregnant women after proper counseling in the rural areas of five districts of West Bengal state in eastern India. Thalassemia testing was done using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). A total of 35,413 individuals were screened for hemoglobinopathies. β-Thalassemia trait was found in 10.38%, Hb E [β26(B8)Glu→Lys] trait in 4.30%, sickle cell trait in 1.12%, borderline Hb A(2) value 0.73%, low Hb A(2) 0.68% and Hb D trait 0.37%. This is the first study that addresses the prevalence of different hemoglobinopathies in rural areas of West Bengal. The prevalence of β-thal trait is higher in West Bengal than other parts of India. This data is likely to be helpful in planning screening programs in rural areas of West Bengal, India.

Variant Hemoglobin Spectrum By Cation Exchange High Performance Liquid Chromatography: A Study 0f 2035 Subjects

“…Sachdev et al [26] , Jain et al [30] and Mukhopadhyay et al [29] found 12.57%, 29.3 % and 14.5% abnormal hemoglobin fractions respectively. Sachdev et al [26] , Rao et al [27] , Dolai et al [28] and Mukhopadhyay et al [29] found beta thalassemia trait cases to be 8.9 %,18.1 %,10.38 % and 5.6 % respectively. Our findings are comparable to these different Indian studies.…”

“…Different studies by Sachdev et al [26] , Rao et al [27] , Dolai et al [28] and Mukhopadhyay et al [29] have taken 2600, 800, 35413 and 10407 cases respectively for their study. Sachdev et al [26] , Jain et al [30] and Mukhopadhyay et al [29] found 12.57%, 29.3 % and 14.5% abnormal hemoglobin fractions respectively.…”

A Retrospective Study on Pattern of Thalassemia and Other Haemoglobinopathies in Paediatrics Age Group Using High Performance Liquid Chromatography in Jorhat District of North East India

“…As the prevalence of thalassemia varies with different geographical areas of India. 1,2,7,8 we took the prevalence of 66.7% among the six ethnic groups from Assam 6 while calculating the sample size. Taking relative error of 5% of prevalence, the sample size calculated was 800 cases.…”

“…1,2 In different parts of India, the incidence of haemoglobinopathies also differs. In Orissa, HbS is common 7 whereas in West Bengal the commonest one is HbE. 8 ICMR multicenter study showed that HbE trait was mainly seen in Kolkata in West Bengal (3.92%) and in Dibrugarh in Assam (23.9%).…”

Can the Availability of Unrestricted Financial Support Improve the Quality of Care of Thalassemics in a Center with Limited Resources? A Single Center Study from India

“…6 The problem is worse in the state of West Bengal where the prevalence of beta thalassemia carriers is estimated to be 10.38%, with another 4.30% being Hemoglobin E [ 26(B8)Glu Lys] carriers. 7 IHTM alone has 1410 registered thalassemics with 72% of them suffering from Hemoglobin E beta thalassemia. A percentage of 99.8 of these patients have been categorized by the government as living below the poverty line.…”