Prevalence of sickle cell trait and sickle cell anemia in two Brazilian quilombola communities from Southwest Bahia State

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common hereditary hematologic disease in the world and prevalent among people of African descent. Large part of this prevalence is found in remaining quilombola populations, which still face difficulties related to health because of eventual discrimination and/or marginalization for ethnic, cultural and social reasons. Thus, the objective of the present study was to evaluate the prevalence of SCD - sickle cell trait and sickle cell anemia - in the population aged 10 years or older of the Lagoa de Maria Clemência and Oiteiro communities, Vitória da Conquista, Bahia, Brazil. To this end, a cross-sectional study was carried out with 149 individuals. Blood samples were collected by venipuncture and put in tubes containing EDTA. Initially, part of the blood was incubated with sodium metabisulphite to observe the occurrence of sickling under optical microscope. Samples with sickled erythrocytes were referred for hemoglobin electrophoresis with High Performance Liquid Chromatography. Data analysis showed that 4.1% of the population has SCD; of these, 3.5% have sickle cell trait and 0.7% have homozygous hemoglobin S, and 66.7% were female and 33.3 % male. The prevalence of SCD in the quilombola communities studied was similar to those found in other communities of northeastern Brazil. Because these individuals have greater hereditary susceptibility to SCD, and also because of their low socioeconomic conditions, constant monitoring of these populations is necessary to identify individuals with SCD and inform them of the possible risk of birth of children with sickle cell anemia resulting from the marriage between individuals with sickle cell trait.