Infectious disease: a cause of hemolytic anemia in glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency.

Abstract

Editorials1 January 1969Infectious Disease: A Cause of Hemolytic Anemia in Glucose-6 Phosphate Dehydrogenase DeficiencyEDWARD R. BURKA, M.D., F.A.C.P.EDWARD R. BURKA, M.D., F.A.C.P.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-70-1-222 SectionsAboutPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail ExcerptThe role played by a congenital deficiency of the erythrocyte enzyme glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) in drug-induced hemolytic anemias has received increasing attention in both the medical literature and the public press (1). The defect is transmitted as a sex-linked trait, hemizygous males and homozygous females being fully affected, and heterozygous females having a partial deficiency of the enzyme (2). With an estimated 13% of American Negro males affected (2, 3), the magnitude of the problem is indicated by the fact that in the United States alone there are at least 1 million affected persons. Clinical problems in enzyme-deficient individuals...