hi there

Hi there, my name is jennifer and i am from singapore. I have a one year old son toshan.  Last tuesday he went for his DNA blood test to find out whether he is thal minor or major.  My boy has always been sick since the day he was born.  When he was 8 months old, he was in hospital for one week cause he had a very bad case of flu and breathlessness.  He was put on oxygen for very 2 - 3 hourly. 

When the doctors did a full blood count, his red blood cells very low.  He was put on iron tablets.  His red blood cells were up but it wasn't growing in size.  The doctors said he is microsytic anemia.

I have some questions to ask,

1. Me and my husband are not thal minor or major, so how did my son got thal?

2. What is microsytic anemia?  What are the signs of it?

3.My son been having all kinds of allergy and atleast once every two weeks he will fall sick. Is by having thal minor or major cause him to fall sick often.

His blood test result will only come back after one month that is 28th of June.

thank your for having me in this group.

jennifer

Hi Jennifer

Welcome to the site and be sure that you will get to know many information here

i am sorry to hear that your son is not doing as you expect. But he can not have thal major unless both his parents are carriers or only one parent as a carrier and in this case he might or might not be  only a minor. So either he has something else other than thal major or minor OR you and your husband might have silent genes that won't appear unless you do a DNA test.

The good thing is that you made a DNA test for your son so things can be clear.

Please Jennifer, don't give you son iron pills unless tests shows that he is iron deficient. i mean having low HB is not a reason to give iron, you should first do iron defiency test in order to decide whether to give him iron or not

Please keep us updated and take care

Manal

Hi Jennifer,

Please let us know the results of the blood tests when you receive them, especially the hemoglobin level and the MCV.

Microcytic anemia can have several causes including both iron deficiency and thalassemia. Basically, it is an inability to produce hemoglobin. It is very important to understand the cause. Iron is often given short term to see if there is improvement. If there is, it is most likely iron deficiency. If there isn't, the likelihood of thalassemia is stronger. Thalassemia can weaken the immune system, but so can iron deficiency. Has transfusion been suggested?

As Manal stated, thalassemia trait sometimes is not easily detected so if your child carries thal, one or both parents must also carry the thal gene.

Welcome to the site Jennifer! You came to the right site. I know you will get all the answers to all your questions. Keep us posted! take care!

thanks for the replies and the warm welcome everyone.

My son had his iron deficiency test and it came back positive.  so the doctors started the iron tablets for him.  after three months of taking it, his red blood cells are up but the size of the cells are below 40%.  that is why they did the DNA test for him

Both of us (me and my husband) tested for thal and it came back negative.  i really don't know where did my son got it from.

i will let you know the result soon.

thanks alot guys

jennifer

Both of us (me and my husband) tested for thal and it came back negative

What tests were done on you and your husband?? Sometimes, the Hemoglobin Electrophoresis is NOT accurate, especially if it is Alpha Thal(Trait). Also, do you know if the Iron levels were normal for you and your husband, because that can throw off the results

Hi jennifer,
welcome to the Thal website,hope it helps answer some of your questions regarding thal for u and your child,we are all here to support one another.

thanks for the all replies that u guys had sent me.

My son doctor has called me up and told me that my son might be thal beta.  but she still rather wait for the DNA result to be out first.

My question is thal beta serious?  what are the complications?

thanks once again

jennifer

Beta thalassemia can be one of three classifications...minor, intermedia or major. Major is the most serious and requires regular blood transfusions to survive. For a child to be thal major, both parents have to be carriers of the thal gene. At this point we do not have enough information to tell you what his classification is. Some minors do experience significant problems when very young, so it is possible that he is a minor. Do you know how low his hemoglobin level is? This would give a much better idea of which beta thal he has.