Anaemias of Africans

Between black and miscegenated population groups: sickle cell anemia and sickle cell trait in Brazil in the 1930s and 1940s

The article examines medical and scientific studies of sickle cell anemia published in Brazil in the 1930s and 1940s, when the vast majority of physicians and scientists believed that miscegenation played a significant role in the epidemiology of the disease in the country. Special focus is placed on hematologist Ernani Martins da Silva, of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute, who conducted blood analyses around the interior of Brazil with the purpose of classifying miscegenated and pure population groups based on the presence of sickle cells and the racial distribution of blood groups. The article explores the ambivalences stemming from associations between sickle cell anemia and the 'black race' during this period.

Severe megaloblastic anaemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency in The Gambia

Five cases of severe megaloblastic anaemia in Gambians are described. Three of the patients were found to have pernicious anaemia. The difficulties in diagnosis and the various features of pernicious anaemia in Negroes are discussed. A brief review of the literature is included.