It is the presence of A and B antigens and corresponding antibodies that determines your ABO blood group. That’s why giving someone blood from the wrong ABO group can be life-threatening. They recognise any ‘foreign’ antigens and tell your immune system to destroy them. You also have antibodies in the clear part of blood called plasma.Īntibodies are important in transfusion because they are the body’s natural defence system. Which group you belong to depends on the antigens and antibodies in your blood.Īntigens are a combination of sugars and proteins that coat the surface of a red blood cell.ĭepending on your combination, you will have: There are four main blood groups in the ABO group system.Įach group is important and we need donors from every group to ensure we have the right blood for the people who need it. There can be two types of z score tables, namely, the positive z table and the negative z table. In other words, it is used to show the values that lie to the left of a z score on a standard normal distribution curve. The ABO group system gives the letter part of your blood type and Rh system gives the positive or negative part. It is used to indicate the percentage of values that fall below a particular z score value.
The two most important blood group systems for transfusion are ABO and Rh. Your blood group is inherited from genes passed on by your parents.
