Absence of the alpha-thalassaemia syndromes in Egyptian Arabs.

An investigation was undertaken to find the incidence of α-thalassaemia in Egypt. Blood was collected from the umbilical cords of 550 newborns and from 630 adults from central hospitals in Cairo that drain patients from all over Egypt. Starch gel electrophoreses at both pH 8·6 and 7·0, and brilliant cresyl blue incubation revealed the absence of haemoglobins Barts and H in the blood specimens examined.