Distribution pattern of abo and rhesus blood group among voluntary blood donors in Abakaliki

Abstract

ABO and Rhesus (Rh) blood group antigens are hereditary characters and are useful in population genetic studies, in resolving medico-legal issues and more importantly in compatibility test in blood transfusion practice. The aim of this work is to determine the distribution pattern of ABO and Rh (D) blood group among voluntary blood donors in Abakaliki. Blood groups and rhesus were tested in 500 subjects comprising of 446 male donors and 54 female donors. Cell and serum grouping technique was carried out using standard procedures respectively. The overall distribution of ABO cell and serum grouping, and Rh (D) groups result shows that A, B, AB and O are 87(17%), 63(13%), 5(1%) and 345(69%) respectively. For the Rh group, 473 (95%) of the donors were Rh (D) positive and 27(5%) were Rh D negative. The reduction in number of female donors is due to religious belief of some, menstrual flow, fear of needle prick, Low PCV etc. In Conclusion, this work could help health institutions to identify where they can obtain blood products necessary for medical interventions. Moreover, this piece of information contributes to the knowledge of the genetic structure of the Abakaliki population which could have significant implications in different fields of biomedicine.