Abstract:
Although the prevalence of sickle cell trait (SCT) in Kenya was known, the magnitude of sickle cell disease (SCD) was yet to be established. We performed a national survey in all hospitals from November 1987 to May 1990 and found 3605 cases with SCD. Age was recorded for 2821 patients. 77% of these patients were under 15 years of age. The oldest patient was a 50 year old female. The paediatric to adult ratio was 3:1. About 58.4% of the patients were Luo, 23.9% Luhya, 8.5% Mijikenda, 2.7% Giriama, 0.7% Kisii 0.7% Teso, 0.6% Taveta, 0.5% Kalenjin, 0.6% Arab-Negro mixture groups, and 0.2% Kamba. For 2.3% of the 3605 patients, no ethnic origin was traceable. The remaining 0.9% were non-Kenyans from Uganda and Tanzania and a low representation of Kenyans of Kikuyu, Somali, and Turkana origins. There was a discrepancy between SCT rate (SCTr) and SCD rate (SCDr). The Kambes of the Mijikenda group in the Coast Province had the highest SCTr of 35% but a SCDr not exceeding 8.5%, whereas the Luos with a SCTr of 28% had a SCDr of 58.4%. The Kisii with a SCTr of 3% had SCDr of 0.7% whereas the Kikuyu with SCTr's of 2% had SCDr's of 0.2%. There were reports of SCD in the Somali and Turkana, despite the fact that no SCT had been found previously.
