Abstract
In an electrophoretic study of 15,661 Jamaican cord bloods, 8 rare β-chain variants were found in 18 subjects in addition to the common β-chain variants, Hb S and Hb C. The heterozygote frequencies for Hb S and Hb C were 10.1% and 3.7% respectively. The most frequent of the rare β-chain variants were Hb Korle Bu (β 73 Asp → Asn) (7 cases) and Hb Osu-Christiansborg (β 52 Asp → Asn) (3 cases). One new B-chain variant, Hb Caribbean (8 91 Leu → Arg) was found.