01115nas a2200241   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653001100055653001800066653001100084653001200095653000900107653001600116100001600132700002000148700001400168700001700182245004000199300000900239490000600248520060500254022001400859       1983                            d  c1983 Jun10aFemale10aHemoglobin A210aHumans10aleprosy10aMale10aThalassemia1 aRamalho A S1 aPinto Júnior W1 aMagna L A1 aBeiguelman B00a[Thalassemia and Hansen's disease].  a61-50 v83 a<p>The beta-thalassemia trait was investigated among 165 Brazilians who were unmixed Italian descendants (80 Virchowian patients and 85 normal controls, composed of universitary students). The frequency of the beta-thalassemia trait was 6.25% among the Virchowian patients and 5.88% in the control group. In spite of the similar geographical distribution of both hanseniasis and the gene for beta-thalassemia in Asia, the present data does not support the hypothesis that hanseniasis might have contributed to maintain high prevalence of this allele by selection favouring beta-thalassemia trait.</p>  a0100-3283