Question

why do you have to be concerned with blood types when a patient needs a blood transfusion or an organ donation?

Answer 1

Utmost care has to be taken during a blood transfusion or organ transplantation. If the blood group/type of the donor and recipient are different, the immune system of the recipient could lead to a serious reaction which could be life-threatening.

Human being has four different blood types/groups which are classified based on the antigen and absence/presence of Rh factor found on the red blood cells.  

Blood type A - antigen A is present. If the Rh factor is present then the blood type is A+. If it is absent then it is A-.

Blood type B - antigen B is present. B+ (Rh factor present), B- (Rh factor absent)

Blood type AB - Both, antigen A & B are present. AB+ (Rh factor present), AB- (Rh factor absent)

Blood type O -   Antigen is absent. O+ (Rh factor present), O- (Rh factor absent)

Before blood transfusion, blood group testing is of immense importance. People with Blood group A can only accept blood having the same type i.e, Type A. This is true for the people with Blood group B. But, People having blood group O can donate blood to people with other blood types i.e, A, B, AB, O. but can accept blood from only O- type. Hence, they are called Universal donors. However, people with blood type AB can accept blood from A, B, O, AB blood type people but can donate blood to only AB - type.

POSSIBLE RISK SOF BLOOD TRANSFUSION REACTIONS - Following are the list of possible infections a patient may suffer from during or after the transfusion.

1. ALLERGIC REACTION - The recipient's immune system reacts to the plasma proteins of the donor's blood. Symptoms include itching, fever. This is usually mild and can be taken care of by antihistamines.

2. FEBRILE REACTION - The recipient's immune system reacts to the white blood cells of the donor's blood. This response shows up during or within 24hours of the transfusion procedure. Symptoms include - headache, nausea.

3. Transfusion-related acute lung injury - The main symptom of this reaction is that the person has difficulty in breathing. The patient is then assisted with fluids, breathing machines, etc. This condition is rare but serious.

4. Graft-versus-host disease - The patient (recipient) suffers from this disease if he/she has a weak immune system. In this disease, the white blood cell from the donor's blood attacks the tissues of the recipient's blood.

5. OTHER INFECTIONS - i. contamination of bacteria ii. Hepatitis Band C virus iii. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)