Abstract
After taking capillary blood samples, we used the sickling test and paper and agar gel electrophoresis to diagnose the sickle cell trait and sickle cell anaemia in children in Zambia. The results of a survey of 1,707 children under the age of 4 years, not suspected of having sickle cell anaemia, are presented. A diagnosis was made with confidence in children over 3 weeks of age. This simple screening system can be easily introduced for the large scale examination of children attending postnatal or paediatric clinics. The size and seriousness of the problem of sickle cell anaemia certainly merit this in African children, wherever medical supervision is available. A differential mortality between children of haemoglobin AA and haemoglobin AS types has been confirmed. The possible rôle of the sickling trait in protecting against general infections as well as malignant malaria is discussed.
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Schedule a callMore From: Transactions of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
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