Phenotypic and Allelic Frequency of ABO and Rh (D) Blood Group among Whole Blood Donors in a Teaching Hospital of Chhattisgarh

Background: ABO and Rh (D) blood groups are the most important in blood transfusion and are determined genetically. Although these blood groups are common to all humans, there is variation in their allelic frequency based on region and population. This study was performed to determine the allelic frequency of ABO & Rh (D) in the donor population in the Blood Center of Chhattisgarh located in Central India.

Place and Duration of Study: It is a cross-sectional study performed in the Department of Transfusion Medicine & Blood Bank of a teaching hospital from July 2021-February 2022.

Methodology: Only the accepted whole blood donors were included. ABO & Rh (D) blood grouping was performed by conventional tube technique and their allelic frequency was determined. We studied 4078 whole blood donors out of which 4055 were males and 23 were females.

Results: Phenotypic frequency of ABO blood group system was O>B>A>AB. Rh (D) positive was more prevalent than Rh (D) negative. Allele frequency of ABO system was 0.1545 for IA, 0.2351 for IB, and 0.6105 for IO. In Rh system, allele frequency of ID was 0.8441 and Id was 0.1559.

Conclusion: Phenotypic & allelic frequency of ABO & Rh (D) shows heterogeneous distribution in different parts of the world. Our study showed blood group O & allele IO as the most common. This data is of utmost importance in the planning of transfusion services, especially during a healthcare crisis in low-resource area like ours.