Autoimmune haemolytic anaemia may occur during the course of influenza A infection2 and if this occurs it may pose a major problem for people with thalassaemia. In France, annual influenza vaccination is recommended and free of charge for children with chronic disease, including thalassaemia.3 In countries where thalassaemia is endemic, such as Thailand, it is also recommended that all people w...

Intrathoracic extramedullary haematopoiesis (EMH) is a rare entity that is usually asymptomatic. A 44 year old man with alpha-thalassaemia is described who developed dyspnoea and massive left sided haemothorax. The haemoglobin disorder was established by Hgb H staining and haemoglobin electrophoretic studies. The DNA analysis revealed it to be a case of double heterozygous terminal codon mutati...

An investigation of the reliability of screening tests for beta thalassaemia trait in pregnant women was carried out as part of a programme to predict beta thalassaemia major in the fetus. Women with a mean corpuscular volume (MCV) of less than 83fl were examined further, and the reliability of various red cell indices as screening tests was assessed and compared. Over three years 696 women wer...

UNLABELLED Contaxt: Every year in India 6000 to 8000 children are born with thalassaemia major. The birth of such a child produces considerable physical and economic strain on the affected child, its family and the community at large. Thus, the emphasis must shift from the treatment to the prevention of such births in the future. AIMS To find out the prevalence of the Beta Thalassaemia trait ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES In a routine community health survey conducted in adult Adivasis of the costal Maharashtra, microcytosis and hyprochromia were observed in more than 80 per cent of both males and females having normal haemoglobin levels suggesting the possibility of α-thalassaemia in these communities. We conducted a study in Adivasi students in the same region to find out the magnitude ...

Transfusion dependent thalassaemia is a significant problem in Sri Lanka. In a study published in 2000, it was estimated that there were approximately 2000 transfusion dependent beta thalassaemia and HbE patients in Sri Lanka and the expenditure on them accounted for approximately 5% of the recurrent health budget of the country [1]. This number has by and large remained static over the past de...

A number of patients of Mediterranean and Asian origins were found to have unexplained microcytic hypochromic red blood cells. Iron deficiency and fl-thalassaemia trait were both satisfactorily excluded in all of them. The haematological indices of these patients, obtained on a Coulter Model 'S' Counter, were found to be very similar to those seen in obligatory heterozygotes for oc-thalassaemia...

This study was done to evaluate the efficiency of M/H ratio between the percentages of microcytic and hypochromic cells as a screening procedure for thalassaemia trait in Pakistani population. A total of 150 subjects, were included in this study. The analysis of results revealed that M/H ratio is a very sensitive index for beta thalassaemia trait. The sensitivity, predictive value and diagnosti...