Screening secondary school students in the Gaza strip for beta-thalassaemia trait

A small scale screening study for beta-thalassaemia trait has been carried out in the Gaza Strip, involving 1650 secondary schools healthy students, 16-18 years old and from both sexes. The results showed that the overall prevalence in the Gaza Strip of beta-thalassaemia was 4.3%. The frequency of beta-thalassaemia trait in the microcytic (defined as MCV < or = 80fl and/or MCH < or = 26 pg) subjects was 27.1%. The efficacies of some of the proposed discrimination functions in the differentiation between beta-thalassaemia trait and non-thalassemic microcytosis were evaluated. The Mentzer index, MCV of < or = 72fl, England & Fraser DF and the Shine & Lal formula were found to correctly identify 91.6%, 82.4%, 81.3% and 62.6% of the studied cases of microcytosis as having or not having the beta-thalassaemia trait. It was concluded that both beta-thalassaemia and microcytic anaemias are major health problems in the Gaza Strip. The various forms of consanguineous marriages, in addition to poor economic conditions in the Gaza Strip may have contributed to the concentration of beta-thalassaemia and the prevalence of microcytic anaemias in this population.