Relative incidence of different thalassaemias and haemoglobinopathies in South Bengal

Thalassaemia is a common congenital abnormality throughout the world and beta-thalassaemia and HbE abnormality are two common haemoglobin disorders in West Bengal of India. There is inadequate study of these disorders in and around Calcutta, which is the most populated area in West Bengal. The present study showed 74.85% normal chromatogram on high performance liquid chromatography; 9.16% showed symptomatic patients of which commonest was E beta-thalassaemia followed by beta-thalassaemia. Asymptomatic patients with abnormal haemoglobin was found in 15.99% of which beta-thalassaemia minor was the commonest. Other studies in and around Calcutta also showed similar results. Studies involving population of 24 Paraganas of West Bengal showed less percentage of carrier state than the present study. This signifies the increased awareness of the urban and semi-urban population than the rural population regarding these congenital diseases. Only screening procedure can prevent spread of these diseases amongst general population.