Distribution pattern of ABO and Rh (D) blood group system among 1st-year medical students

ABSTRACT

Background: Clinical studies, reliable geospatial data, and blood bank management all require an understanding of blood group trends. The prevalence of ABO in the blood group varies from one community to another. Every transfusion center/hematology lab is required to keep a statistical record of the blood group among their population, staff, and students. Aim and Objectives: Determining ABO and Rh blood group and study the pattern of these blood groups with an estimation of gene frequencies among first phase medical students of GMC Jammu. Materials and Methods: 250 medical students were recruited for the study. The finger-prick technique was done to obtain blood. On clean glass slides, a drop of monoclonal anti-A, B, and D was added to a drop of red blood cell suspension made from finger-prick blood and normal saline and thoroughly mixed. The agglutination results were subsequently recorded. Percentages were used to represent the data. Results: ABO blood group prevalent in this study was B, which accounted for 39.6% of all cases (36.8% B+ and 2.8% B-) followed by O with 34% (33.2% O+ and 0.8% O-), A with 21.2% (20% A+ and 1.2% A-), and AB with 5.2% (5.2% AB+ and 0% AB-). Among Rh group 95.2% were positive whereas 4.8% were found to be negative. The gene frequency for IA (p) - 0.1599, for IB (q) - 0.2571, and IO (r) - 0.5830. Conclusion: The B blood group is more ubiquitous than the others, with the AB blood group being the least common. Rh-positive is more common than Rh-negative blood types. Gender had no effect on the ABO and Rh blood groups.