Thalassaemia screening programme has been conducted in Malaysia since 2004. The aim of the programme was to reduce the burden of the disease by identifying thalassaemia carriers. However, the response towards the screening activities was unsatisfactory as there was lack of public awareness against the importance of thalassaemia screening. An alternative approach is to screen blood donors. The purpose of this study was to observe the prevalence of thalassaemia carriers among healthy blood donors. Seven hundred and thirty eight healthy blood donors were screened in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang from July to September 2010 using cation-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Cases with haemoglobin variants were further analyzed by gel electrophoresis at alkaline pH. Result shows that the blood donors consisted of 413 Malays (56%), 162 Indians (22%), 148 Chinese (20%) and 15 others (2%). There were 19 (2.6%) individuals with haemoglobin E trait, six (0.8%) with co-inheritance of haemoglobin E and αα-thalassaemia and five (0.7%) with β-thalassaemia trait. Haemoglobin Constant Spring and haemoglobin A2 prime were observed in two (0.3%); and Haemoglobin Lepore and alpha chain variant in one (0.2%). αα-thalassaemia and normal haemoglobin A2 β-thalassaemia could not be excluded in 190 cases (26%), as they required deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) studies for identification. Thalassaemia screening in blood donors is more feasible and effective. Therefore, a wider scale population screening including blood donors could benefit the existing thalassaemia screening programme in Malaysia.
Thalassaemia Screening among Healthy Blood Donors in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang
Abstrak
Program saringan talasemia telah diwujudkan di Malaysia semenjak tahun 2004. Program ini bertujuan untuk mengurangkan beban akibat penyakit ini dengan mengenal-pasti pembawa talasemia. Walaubagaimanapun, sambutan terhadap aktiviti saringan ini didapati kurang memuaskan kerana kurangnya kesedaran orang ramai akan kepentingan saringan talasemia. Kaedah alternatif adalah menyaring penderma darah. Matlamat kajian ini adalah untuk mengetahui prevalens pembawa talasemia di kalangan penderma darah yang sihat. Tujuh ratus tiga puluh lapan penderma darah yang sihat telah disaring di Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Klang menggunakan kaedah cation-exchange high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) dari Julai hingga September 2010. Semua kes varian hemoglobin seterusnya diproses menggunakan gel electrophoresis pada pH alkali.
Hasil kajian menunjukkan penderma darah terdiri daripada bangsa Melayu 413 (56%), India 162 (22%), Cina 148 (20%) and lain-lain 15 (2%). Terdapat 19 (2.6%) trait hemoglobin E, enam (0.8%) hemoglobin E/talasemia-αα dan lima (0.7%) trait talasemia-β. Hemoglobin Constant Spring dan hemoglobin A2 prime dilihat dalam dua (0.3%) kes; dan Hemoglobin Lepore serta varian rantaian alpha dalam satu (0.2%) kes. Walaubagaimanapun talasemia-αα dan talasemia-β hemoglobin A2 normal tidak boleh diabaikan dalam 190 (26%) kes dan memerlukan analisa DNA untuk pengenalpastian jenis talasemia tersebut. Saringan talasemia ke ataspenderma darah adalah lebih mudah dan berkesan. Oleh yang demikian, saringan populasi yang meluas termasuk penderma darah boleh memberi faedah kepada program saringan talasemia yang sedia ada di Malaysia.
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