Blood Types

Blood is divided into distinct groups according to the presence or lack of particular

antigens on the surface of red blood cells in a process called blood typing, which is used to

identify a person's blood group or blood type. Blood typing is essential in transfusion therapy

to prevent negative responses after blood transfusions (Dahlén, et al., 2021).

The A and B antigens are the primary antigens used in blood type. These antigens

determine the ABO blood classes, which include A, B, AB, and O. Red blood cells from a

person with blood type A carry the A antigen, whereas those from a person with blood type B

carry the B antigen. Blood type O lacks both A and B antigens, while blood type AB

possesses both. The Rh antigen, which determines the Rh factor, is an additional significant

antigen in addition to the ABO system. Rh positive (Rh+) refers to someone who possesses

the Rh antigen on their red blood cells, whereas Rh negative (Rh-) refers to someone who

does not (Abegaz, 2021). The "+" or "-" mark that appears after the ABO blood type (e.g.,

A+, B-, AB+) indicates the Rh factor.

The idea of universal donors and recipients was created to prevent negative reactions.

Because type O negative (O-) blood lacks the Rh antigen as well as the A and B antigens, it is

referred to as the universal donor (Ajmani & Ajmani, 2020).

References

Abegaz, S. B. (2021). Human ABO blood groups and their associations with different

diseases. BioMed research international, 2021, 1-9.

Ajmani, P. S., & Ajmani, P. S. (2020). Blood group and immunology. Immunohematology

and Blood banking: Principles and Practice, 7-23.

Dahlén, T., Clements, M., Zhao, J., Olsson, M. L., & Edgren, G. (2021). An agnostic study of

associations between ABO and RhD blood group and phenome-wide disease risk.

Elife, 10, e65658.