Hemoglobin E and glucose-6-phosphate deficiency in the Khmer Air Force (Cambodia)

This study was designed to investigate the use of primaquine in malaria control in the Khmer Republic (Cambodia). Blood was drawn from 106 male Khmer Air Force troops for analysis of hemoglobin E and glucose-6-phosphate (G-6-PD) deficiency. A test group of 15 men with G-6-PD deficiency and a group of 31 normal controls were given 15 mg of primaquine each morning for 14 days. The patients were followed for hemoglobinuria and changes in hematocrit. Primaquine induced a significant, but not a dangerous, hemolysis in G-6pD-deficient Khmer troops. The G-6-PD deficiency seen in Khmer Air Force subjects was G-6-PD Mahidol. Statistically, G-6-PD Mahidol was linked to hemoglobin E.