Haemoglobin variants, iron status and anaemia in Sri Lankan adolescents with low red cell indices: A cross sectional survey

Rodrigo, Rexan, Allen, Angie, Manampreria, Aresha, Perera, Lakshman, Fisher, Christopher, Allen, Stephen ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6675-249X, Weatherall, David and Premawardhena, Anuja (2018) 'Haemoglobin variants, iron status and anaemia in Sri Lankan adolescents with low red cell indices: A cross sectional survey'. Blood Cells, Molecules, and Diseases, Vol 71, pp. 11-15.

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Abstract

Iron deficiency complicates the use of red cell indices to screen for carriers of haemoglobin variants in many populations.

In a cross sectional survey of 7526 secondary school students from 25 districts of Sri Lanka, 1963 (26.0%) students had low red cell indices. Iron deficiency, identified by low serum ferritin, was the major identifiable cause occurring in 550/1806 (30.5%) students. Low red cell indices occurred in iron-replete students with alpha-thalassaemia including those with single alpha-globin gene deletions. Anaemia and low red cell indices were also common in beta-thalassaemia trait. An unexpected finding was that low red cell indices occurred in 713 iron-replete students with a normal haemoglobin genotype.

It is common practice to prescribe iron supplements to individuals with low red cell indices. Since low red cell indices were a feature of all forms of α thalassaemia and also of iron deficiency, in areas where both conditions are common, such as Sri Lanka, it is imperative to differentiate between the two, to allow targeted administration of iron supplements and avoid the possible deleterious effects of increased iron availability in iron replete individuals with low red cell indices due to other causes such as α thalassaemia.

Item Type:	Article
Subjects:	WA Public Health > WA 30 Socioeconomic factors in public health (General) WH Hemic and Lymphatic Systems > Hematologic Diseases. Immunologic Factors. Blood Banks > WH 155 Anemia WS Pediatrics > By Age Groups > WS 460 Adolescence (General)
Faculty: Department:	Clinical Sciences & International Health > Clinical Sciences Department
Digital Object Identifer (DOI):	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bcmd.2018.01.003
Depositing User:	Stacy Murtagh
Date Deposited:	07 Feb 2018 16:18
Last Modified:	12 Sep 2019 13:28
URI:	https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/8205

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