Early Intervention is the Key for Thalassemia Identification

In India, with over 10,000 to 15,000 kids being born with thalassemia every year, experts reveal that the key to battling this genetic disorder is identifying it in its early stage. "This disorder is not rare as it seems because it has around 1.5% prevalence across the globe, while in India, it has 1.5 to 3.7% prevalence depending upon the region," Dr. Prerna ChaddaRajeev Gandhi Cancer and Research Institute.

Early intervention of this disorder is the key and it depends on clinical presentation whether it should be called thalassemia minor, major, or intermediary, she added.

Patients with thalassemia major are easy to be detected but after a certain life span, they couldn’t survive. The problem in identification comes with those having thalassemia minor, and it goes undetected many times, added Dr. Chadda.

World Thalassemia Day

She said that basic CVC and PS are two important measures for this disorder. In those having thalassemia major, the level of haemoglobin remains at the lowest range while in minor, it stands at the lower range. "Thalassemia carriers are offered protection against severe malaria because the parasite is unable to survive in the defective red blood cells," she added.

"Minor thalassemia means the person infected is the carrier and they don’t have the active manifestation of this disorder," said Dr. Archna Dhawan Bajaj. She added that in the case of major thalassemia, it is inherited from both genes - mother and father resulting in multiple blood transfusion and the lowest level of haemoglobin.

"Knowing thalassemia status at the time of pregnancy is a must. If the mother is normal, there is no need to follow up further. But, if the mother is diagnosed with thalassemia minor, then the father’s status must be diagnosed. If the father is also diagnosed with thalassemia, there is a possibility that the child could inherit this disorder. If the child takes from one gene, it would be thalassemia minor or carry from both parents, it will be thalassemia major," she said.

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Talking about the more prevalence of this disorder in north India, she attributes the reason for large scale of migration into the region from Central Asia where it also has a higher level of prevalence.

Source-IANS