Prevalence of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) Deficiency among primary school students in malaria endemic areas in North Sulawesi

Deficiency of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is the most common enzyme disorder in the word with a very high incidence in the tropics and sub-tropics as a result of malaria selection. North Sulawesi is a part of Indonesian archipelago where malaria has been endemic. This study was aimed to examine the prevalence of G6PD deficiency in the region. An observational cross sectional study was conducted on primary school students belong to different ethnic groups. The purposive sampling method was used to select 442 study subjects, age 5-9 years. The G6PD-deficiency screening test was carried out using G6PD –assay kit. The prevalences of G6PD- deficiency male students were 0% in the Minahasans, 7,4 %-12,0% in the Sangihense, and 4,0%-10,3% in the Bolaang-Mongondownese. The result suggest that the highest prevalence of G6PD deficiency was in the Sangihe ethnic group. Further molecular analysis would be beneficial to study the genetic relationship of those populations with other neighboring population. Keywords. G6PD deficiency; malaria endemic; assay kit