With a rise in the demand of the Bombay (Oh) blood group, a rare blood group across Maharashtra and country, the State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC) has now instructed the blood centres to submit the list of donors, with the said type.
The rare occurrence of Bombay blood group
The Bombay blood group has an incidence of 0.0004% in the total human population and an incidence as high as 1 in 10,000 (0.01%) in some specific populations in Mumbai. It fails to express any A, B or H antigen on their red cells or other tissues. According to a senior SBTC official, they now intend to update their registry of this blood group, given the increasing demand.
"The SBTC is intending to update the registry of Bombay (Oh) type. There are constant calls from the patients all over Maharashtra and rest of the country to provide blood of this group to the Council that will provide it to Life Blood Council (previous Think Foundation). The NGO works to provide rare blood groups to the patients," read an official circular.
Incidence of 'hh' high in South Asia
All around the globe, the instance of a human having a Bombay blood group also known as 'hh' type is one in four million. The incidence is higher in south Asia; one in 7,600 to 10,000 are born with such blood in India. The SBTC official said that there is a need to have an update of rare blood groups donors so that it will help patients and their relatives when they frantically search for this type. “We have provided a format where blood centres need to indicate in the blood group column whether it is Oh+ve or Oh-ve. Moreover, details of previous donors should also be updated on the same,” he said.
Meanwhile, health experts said that blood banks needed to maintain a common registry for all the rare blood groups for quick donation. They pointed out that the ‘hh’ group is generally not stored in blood banks as its shelf-life ranges between 35 and 42 days. “Hence, it is never available when it is urgently needed. There are more than 350 donors, but just 30-40 are currently active,” said a blood transfusion officer.
