Medicine identifies blood groups in each person, which determine their antigens. When a non-native antigen is introduced into the human body, complications begin due to the struggle of the body and the defense system activation (Zhu et al., 2017). Four major blood types are: A, B, O, and AB. Each blood group defines specific antigens that are located on the red blood cells of a person (Fan et al., 2018). Blood groups add several unique characteristics, which is why the combination and movement (transfusion) of groups between people is possible only if unique factors coincide or there is no specificity in one of the groups.
O blood type is referred to as a “universal red cell donor” due to the fact that it has no antigens (A, B, or Rh), while group A contains antigens A, group B antigens B, and group AB both. Therefore, O blood type can be safely used and adapted for people with other blood groups (Zhu et al., 2017). This makes the O group unique and possible to use for patients with other groups.
Moreover, people with different blood types have different Rh factors which can be positive or negative. Most people have a positive Rh factor, while negative is rare. Even smaller percentage of the population has both blood group O and a negative Rh factor (Zhu et al., 2017). In the event that a person with a negative Rh factor is transfused with blood from a positive factor, antigens may begin to be produced, which leads to complications.
At the same time, the AB blood type is the only type with a unique plasma that is suitable for any other group. This allows transfusion of plasma from AB blood to people with any others without complications (Zhu et al., 2017). Universal blood types for transfusion are always in high demand and are needed in hospitals.
References
Fan, G., Hu, D., Peng, F., Xu, G., Lin, X., Liang, B., Zhang, G., Xia, Y., Lin, J. & Niu, W. (2018). Different risk profiles for the postsurgical prognosis of gastric cancer patients with different blood types: The FIESTA study.Journal of Cancer, 9(16), 2885. Web.
Zhu, Z., Ye, L., Li, Q., Gao, H., Tan, Y., & Cai, W. (2017). Red cell immunohematology research conducted in China.Transfusion Medicine Reviews, 31(2), 102-106. Web.