Highest number of Thalassemia patients registered in 2008 – NTC

Monday, May 11th, 2009

Highest number of children suffering from Thalassemia was recorded in year 2008 and that was 37 children, National Thalassemia Center (NTC) has revealed. This was revealed by NTC at a press briefing held to mark the World Thalassemia Day.

When the center was established, 15 years ago, the center had only 190 registered patients. By the end of 2008, the center has 498 registered patients.

Some 14 patient were recorded in the first quarter of 2008, however only 7 children were recorded in the first quarter of 2009 showing a marked decline in the number of patients registered.

18 percent of the country’s population is carriers, according to latest research. Every one out of five screened for Thalassemia is a carrier and one out every 30 weddings is a union among 2 carriers.

Thalassemia is actually a group of inherited diseases of the blood that affect a person’s ability to produce hemoglobin, resulting in anemia. Hemoglobin is a protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen and nutrients to cells in the body. About 100,000 babies worldwide are born with severe forms of thalassemia each year.

The two main types of thalassemia are called "alpha" and "beta," depending on which part of an oxygen-carrying protein in the red blood cells is lacking. Both types of thalassemia are inherited in the same manner. The disease is passed to children by parents who carry the mutated thalassemia gene. A child who inherits one mutated gene is a carrier, which is sometimes called "thalassemia trait." Most carriers lead completely normal, healthy lives.

A child who inherits two thalassemia trait genes – one from each parent – will have the disease. A child of two carriers has a 25 percent chance of receiving two trait genes and developing the disease, and a 50 percent chance of being a thalassemia trait carrier.

Most individuals with alpha thalassemia have milder forms of the disease, with varying degrees of anemia. A child who inherits two copies of the mutated gene for beta thalassemia will have beta thalassemia disease. The child can have a mild form of the disease, known as thalassemia intermedia, which causes milder anemia that rarely requires transfusions.

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