Letter to Editor statistical difference was seen between the ß-thalassemic trait and control group.(7) In this study no significant difference was found between the groups for low fluorescence reticulocytes. The reticulocyte count is used as an indicator of the erythropoietic activity of bone marrow in different anemias.(7) Manual techniques (such as supravital staining) have great inter- and intra-observer variability and often the results are inaccurate. Automated cell counting has overcome this limitation. The availability of reticulocyte maturation indices, based on the measurement of RNA content extends the clinical utility of reticulocyte determination. References 1. Kazazian HH Jr. The thalassemia syndromes: molecular basis and prenatal diagnosis in 1990. Semin Hematol. 1990;27(3):209-28. xxx 2. Weatherall DJ. The thalassaemias. BMJ. 1997;314(7095):1675-8. 3. Lewis SM, Bain BJ, Bates I. Dacie and Lewis: Practical Haematology. 9 ed. London: Churchill Livingstone; 2001. 4. Clarke GM, Higgins TN. Laboratory investigation of hemoglobino- pathies and thalassemias: review and update. Clin Chem. 2000;46(8 Pt 2):1284-90. 5. Kimura EM, Grignoli CR, Pinheiro VR, Costa FF, Sonati MF. Thalassemia intermedia as a result of heterozygosis for beta 0 -thalassemia and alpha alpha alpha anti-3,7 genotype in a Brazilian patient. Braz J Med Biol Res. 2003;36(6):699-701. 6. Miranda S, Fonseca S, Figueiredo M, Yamamoto M, Grotto H, Saad S, et al. Hb Köln [a2b2 98 (FG) Val-Met] identified by DNA analysis in a Brazilian family. Braz J Gen. 1997;20(4):745-8. 7. Noronha JF, Grotto HZ. Measurement of reticulocyte and red blood cell indices in patients with iron deficiency anemia and beta- thalassemia minor. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2005;43(2):195-7. Rev Bras Hematol Hemoter. 2011;33(5):393-7 397