Genetic anaemia among kids cause for concern

Nearly 3.5% of the 40,000 students tested in the city have thalassaemia minor, according to tests carried out by an NGO, Think Foundation. They are advised not to marry another person who is a carrier for thalassaemia, as the genetic combination will lead to a 25% chance of a child being born a thalassaemia major.

Thalassaemia majors have to live with lifelong blood transfusions every two to four weeks. They also need other treatment such as iron chelation, which is removal of iron load, in order to live a normal life.

Think Foundation and various other non-governmental organisations organise screening tests for college students. “Every year, we find about 3-3.5 % of students test positive for thalassaemia minor. We then counsel the students, basically ‘de-panic’ them. We tell them that this has nothing to do with their health, but rather the tests have been done to protect your future child,” said Vinay Shetty, vice-president of Think Foundation.

Shetty explained that the foundation conducts many blood donation drives, which include blood sampling for thalassaemia minor screening. They, however, have a separate screening for final year students who “are closer to marriage”.

Forty million Indians are estimated to be thalassaemia majors. Sindhis, Punjabis, some sections of the Gujarati society like Lohanas and Kutchis, Bengalis, Agris, Mahars, and certain Muslim communities are considered high-risk communities.

If a child is thalassaemia major, the parents should undergo pre-natal testing done in case they conceive again. “We first conduct a blood test to detect the  carrier status and also
advise DNA testing to see the mutation of the gene. If the child in the womb is  thalassaemia major, most parents in India opt to terminate the pregnancy,” said Dr Mamta Muranjan,  consultant pediatrician at Hinduja hospital. Shetty said that this kind of pre-natal testing should be done at the pregnancy level for all mothers.