Thalassemia
Beta-thalassaemia is a genetic blood disorder. A person who carries the gene can appear perfectly healthy.
How is thalassemia diagnosed?
Beta-thalassaemia is a genetic blood disorder. A person who carries the beta-thalassaemia gene can appear perfectly healthy. However, where both partners carry the gene, there is a 1 in 4 chance that their child could inherit both their genes and develop beta-thalassaemia major.
The majority of infants with beta-thalassaemia will not have symptoms until they reach six months, because they start off with a different type of haemoglobin called fetal haemoglobin. After the age of six months, normal haemoglobin starts replacing the fetal one.
The scale of it
In India, around 80 to 90 per cent of the 10,000 babies born each year with the disease die from it.
A child with thalassemia major needs blood every few weeks, for life.
That is why Aarohi issues blood components to thalassemia and leukemia children free of cost, and why the centre depends on a steady base of voluntary donors rather than replacement donors.
