Blood groups
There are 4 main blood groups (types of blood) – A, B, AB and O. Your blood group is determined by the genes you inherit from your parents.
Each group can be either Rh positive or Rh negative, which means in total there are 8 blood groups.
Antibodies and antigens
Blood is made up of red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets in a liquid called plasma. Your blood group is identified by antibodies and antigens in the blood.
Antibodies are proteins found in plasma. They're part of your body's natural defences. They recognise foreign substances, such as germs, and alert your immune system, which destroys them.
Antigens are protein molecules found on the surface of red blood cells.
The ABO system
There are 4 main blood groups defined by the ABO system:
blood group A – has A antigens on the red blood cells with anti-B antibodies in the plasma
blood group B – has B antigens with anti-A antibodies in the plasma
blood group O – has no antigens, but both anti-A and anti-B antibodies in the plasma
blood group AB – has both A and B antigens, but no antibodies
Blood group O is the most common blood group. Almost half of the UK population (48%) has blood group O.
Receiving blood from the wrong ABO group can be life threatening. For example, if someone with group B blood is given group A blood, their anti-A antibodies will attack the group A cells.
This is why group A blood must never be given to someone who has group B blood and vice versa.
As group O red blood cells do not have any A or B antigens, it can safely be given to any other group.
The Rh system
Red blood cells sometimes have another antigen, a protein known as the RhD antigen. If this is present, your blood group is RhD positive. If it's absent, your blood group is RhD negative.
This means you can be 1 of 8 blood groups:
A Rh positive (A+)
A Rh negative (A-)
B Rh positive (B+)
B Rh negative (B-)
O Rh positive (O+)
O Rh negative (O-)
AB Rh positive (AB+)
AB Rh negative (AB-)
Erythroblastosis
A hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn that occurs when the immune system of an Rh-negative mother produces antibodies to an antigen in the blood of an Rh-positive fetus which cross the placenta and destroy fetal erythrocytes.
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