THALASSEMIA SCREENING AMONG BLOOD DONORS, MALAYSIA Vol 37 No. 3 May 2006 549 Correspondence: Dr Rosline Hassan, Department of Hematology, School of Medical Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 16150 Kota Bharu, Malaysia. Fax: +60 9 7653370 E-mail: roslin@kb.usm.my INTRODUCTION Thalassemias are common autosomal re- cessive disorders. They are widely prevalent worldwide, especially in Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and Far Eastern populations. In some areas in Southeast Asia, the carrier rate of Hb E may exceed 60% of the population. In Malaysia, Hb E and β thalassemia are the most common inherited hematologic disorders (George and Khuziah, 1984; George, 1998; Weatherall and Clegg, 2001; Fucharoen et al, 2004). Previous works from various parts of the world have re- ported low percentages of blood donors with clinically undetectable thalassemias (Carmona et al, 1988; Casado et al, 1997). However, such blood is considered suitable for blood transfu- sion when its hemoglobin level falls within the normal range (Weatherall and Clegg, 2001). Since blood donors provide blood for others, their health is of considerable importance for both the donor and the recipient, hence, blood donors are screened for communicable diseases to avoid their transmission. Likewise, screening for thalassemia may help in providing blood and red blood cell concentrates with maximum func- tional capacity. Detection of thalassemia in blood donors may reflect the spectrum of the disease in the population. This is the first published report in Malaysia that identifies thalassemia carriers among blood donors at the Transfusion Medicine Unit at HUSM. MATERIALS AND METHODS Blood samples were collected from 80 ran- domly selected donors at the Transfusion Medi- cine Unit, HUSM, Kelantan. The majority of the donors were Malays 91.3% (n=73), whereas non- Malays comprised the remaining 8.7% (n=7). Written consent was obtained from each donor participating in this study. Ethical approval was issued by the ethics committee at the Health Campus of the university. According to current practice at HUSM, donor history and clinical cri- teria are taken into consideration. Males with Hb levels <13.5 g/dl and females with Hb levels <12.5 g/dl were considered anemic and could THALASSEMIA AMONG BLOOD DONORS AT THE HOSPITAL UNIVERSITI SAINS MALAYSIA H Rosline 1 , SA Ahmed 1 , FS Al-Joudi 2 , M Rapiaah 1 , NN Naing 3 and Nor Atifah Mohd Adam 1 1 Department of Hematology 3 Department of Community Medicine, School of Medical Sciences; 2 School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kota Bharu, Malaysia Abstract. The aim of this study was to screen and identify the types of thalassemia among blood donors at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM). Thalassemia screening was performed by hemoglobin electrophoresis. A total number of 80 blood samples were obtained from donors at the Transfusion Medicine Unit, HUSM. The ethnic origins of the donors were Malays (n=73, 91.3%) and non-Malays (n=7, 8.75%). Males comprised 88.1% of the donors. Thalassemia was detected in 16.25% (n=13) of the blood donors. Of those with thalassemia, 46.2% (6/13) were anemic. Microcy- tosis and hypochromia were detected in 84.6% (n=11) and 84.6% (n=11) of these donors, respec- tively. The types of thalassemias detected were Hb E, 11.25% (n=9/80) and β thalassemia trait, 5% (n=4/80). Among the thalassemias detected, the Hb E hemoglobinopathy was comprised of Hb E/ α-thalassemia (38.5%: n=5), Hb E / β-thalassemia (23.1%: n=3), Hb E trait (7.6%: n=1) and β-thalas- semia (30.8%: n=4). In conclusion, screening for thalassemia trait should be included as part of a standard blood testing before blood donation. Further studies are required to look at the effects of donated thalassemic blood.