if you are a negative blood type in an Asian country, you are in trouble

Negative Blood Group : Visit : www.rarebloodgroups.org

Let’s look at the relevance of the Rhesus negative blood group, and why it can be such a problem in this part of the world. When we type blood groups there are basically 2 factors to consider. The ABO type, and Rhesus type. Of the ABO type you could be A, B, AB, or O. Any of these groups may be Rhesus positive, or Rhesus negative. (E.g. Blood type A Rh Pos or A +). When we consider donors and recipients for transfusion, the following matches can be made:

A + may receive from A+, A-, O-, and may donate to A+.B + may receive from B+, B-, O-, and may donate to B+.

AB + may receive from A+, B+, AB+, O+, A-, B-, AB-, O-, and may donate to AB+.

O+ may receive from O+, O-, and may donate to O+.

A- may receive from A-, O-, and may donate to A-, A +.

B- may receive from B-, O-, and may donate to B-, B +.

AB- may receive from AB-, O-, and may donate to AB -, AB+.O- may receive from O-, and may donate to A-, A +, B-, B+, AB+, AB-, O-, & O+.

As you can see from this chart, if you could choose your blood group and you were a selfish person, I’d go for AB +. You can receive blood from anyone! If you considered yourself a generous person go for the O -, then you would be the “Universal donor”. This explains why O negative donors are so revered. A bleeding trauma patient can be saved with this blood as no timely cross matching is necessary.

So why the big hoo-ha about negative donors in Asia? The Caucasian (white) population averages about a 15 -25 % negative blood group type. The Asian population averages about 5%. So, if you are a negative blood type in an Asian country, you are in trouble.