Five different glucose-6-phophate [correction phosphate]dehydrogenase (G6PD) variants found among 11 G6PD-deficient persons in Flores Island, Indonesia.

We conducted a survey for malaria diagnosis and treatment in four primary schools in Flores Island, one of the Indonesian Islands with an area of 17000 km(2) and a population of 1.8 million. Of those examined, 24.4% were diagnosed as having malaria (90/363) and administered medicine immediately. A glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) test was performed at the same time, and 16 persons (4.4%) were diagnosed as G6PD deficient. Eleven persons consented to analysis of the G6PD genome. We analyzed these subjects and found one case of G6PD Vanua Lava (383T>C), five cases of G6PD Coimbra (592C>T), one case of G6PD Viangchan (871G>A), one case of G6PD Chatham (1003G>A), and three cases of G6PD Kaiping (1388G>A). These were unexpected findings because five different G6PD variants were found in such a small population. This suggests that people of Flores Island are derived from various ancestries.