[Frequency of sickle-cell anemia in the population of "Cuatro Bocas," Parroquia Ricaurte, Mara municipality, Zulia state, Venezuela].

Isla de Toas is an island on the north of the Maracaibo Lake, it is known in the scientific community, for the high frequency of sickle cell disease, in a population with caucasoid phenotype. The purpose of the present work was to determine the frequency of sickle cell anemia in the population of Cuatro Bocas, situated 35 km from the southwest of Isla de Toas. The town is the center of confluence of a rural population constituted mainly of farmers. The sample consisted of 870 persons of both sexes, aged from 8 months to 66 years. The presence of the sickling phenomenon was determined in all the individuals, and hemoglobin electrophoresis in agarose was performed in all the positive samples. The following results were obtained: fifty-six cases (6.4%), showed drepanocytic changes, and forty-six of them were haemoglobin A/S, 8 were S/S and 2 were S/C. The higher frequency of hemoglobin S was in adolescents and adults. The family backgrounds suggest an insular origin of the sickle cell gene. About 75% of the affected population was ignorant of this condition. The hemoglobin values were lower in the individuals with the sickle cell disease (p < 0.05), than in the normal persons. Iron deficiency in adolescents was suspected because or their low hemoglobin values. The results indicate that the sickle cell gen is expanding to the nearest communities of the Mara county. It is important to consider that the findings of the present work should serve as an alert to the Public Health authorities, and that education of the population is important in order to prevent the spreading of the disease.