Blood group pattern and its distribution among blood transfusion recipients in a semi-urban setting in North-West Nigeria

Abstract

Background: The blood group refers to the blood grouping system and their specificity which is genetically determined; however, the “blood phenotype” describes the reactivity of blood to specific testing antiserum. Although racial and regional variations have been established in the prevalence of the blood groups, most of these studies were done among blood donors, but the blood transfusion recipients who actually need these transfusions have been poorly studied. This study seeks to determine the common blood groups encountered among blood transfusion recipients in Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Birnin Kudu. Materials and Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of the blood grouping pattern among blood transfusion recipients in FMC, Birnin Kudu over a 2-year period from January 2011 to December 2013. Blood grouping is determined commonly using venous blood through tile agglutination method. Standard commercially produced anti-A, anti-B monoclonal grouping reagents and anti-D sera are used for the tests and performed at room temperature. Evidence of agglutination is substantiated microscopically after waiting for 2 min. Results: There were 4129 blood requests during the study period; however, 28 of the entries were excluded due to grossly incomplete data. Among the 4101 entries analyzed, there were 1206 (29.4%) males and 2895 (70.6%) females; male/female ratio of 1:2.4. Blood group O (44.1%) was the most common blood group whereas blood group AB (5.9%) was the least; however, majority (96.2%) of the recipients were rhesus positive. Conclusion: Group O and rhesus positive antigens remain the most common blood group distribution among blood transfusion recipients.