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Epidemiology

Authoring team

It is the commonest genetic disorder in the world

  • although a globin variant is seen in around 5% of the population, only 1.7 % has alpha or beta thalassemia trait (1)
  • according to estimations from cohort studies, there are 1.5% (80-90 million people) carriers of β thalassaemia and 5% carriers of α thalassaemia world wide (2)
  • men and women are equally affaected
  • seen in approximately 4.4 of every 10,000 live births (1)

214,000 people in the UK carry the beta-thalassaemia gene

  • it occurs in a very high frequency in a tropical belt extending from Africa, throughout the Mediterranean region, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, and throughout South West Asia
  • they occur sporadically in every population
  • it is possible that the heterozygote state provides protection against malaria, thus explaining its high carrier rate in certain populations

Reference:

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