ABO and Rhesus (D) blood group distribution among blood donors in rural south western Uganda: a retrospective study

Abstract

BackgroundIn Uganda, geographical distribution of blood groups and Rhesus (D) factor varies across the country. The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of these groups among voluntary blood donors in rural southwestern Uganda.ResultsTwenty-three thousand five hundred four (23,504) blood donors were included in the study. The donors had a mean age of 21 years (SD ± 5.7) and were mainly male (73%). The distribution of ABO blood group was; blood group O (50.3%); blood group A (24.6%); blood group B (20.7%) and blood group AB (4.5%). The proportions of Rhesus (D) positive and Rhesus (D) negative were 98 and 2% respectively. The proportion of non-adult donors (<18 years) was significantly higher among the female than the male donors (p value <0.001). A significantly higher proportion of males than females were Rhesus (D) negative (p-value <0.001). No significant relationship was found between age and blood group distribution.ConclusionThe sequence of ABO distribution among the rural population in southwestern Uganda is; O > A > B > AB, with males as the predominant donors. The frequency of Rhesus (D) negative is very low in rural southwestern Ugandan and is mainly among males. The blood bank services in southwestern Uganda need to develop innovative strategies targeting female donors who are more likely to boost blood stocks in the region.

Gene Frequencies of Haemoglobin Genotype, ABO and Rhesus Blood Groups among Students Population of a Private University in Nigeria-Implications for Blood Banking

“…Beyond Nigeria, our findings agree with the findings of other investigators who reported similar patterns of gene frequencies for ABO blood groups in Uganda [14] , Ethiopia [26] , Tanzania [27] , Saudi Arabia [28] and Brazil [29] respectively. Our findings differ from one Pakistani study [30] and another India study [15] .…”

“…The distribution of Rh blood group is also known to vary among different populations, nevertheless, Rh + has been found to be highly predominant compared to Rh -. The pattern observed in our study (Rh + ˃Rh -: 95.6%, 4.4%) is generally consistent with previous studies within Nigeria [3,13,[16][17][18][19][20][21][22] , while we reported a value of 4.4% prevalence for Rh -in our study, other studies reported values as low as 2.9% in Yola, Nigeria [18] , 2.3% in Uganda [14] and 1.2%…”

“…The low gene frequency of Rh -blood group reported in this study has advantage in blood banking and disease management (HDN) [14] . With regards to blood banking, it presents a reduced demand for Rh -blood for transfusion purposes as such demands usually pose a herculean task to blood bank managers.…”

“…Furthermore, it has also been reported that the blood group systems play significant roles in various human diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, neoplasm, carcinoma and some infectious diseases. These roles make the ABO and Rh blood group systems of great importance in modern medicine [11,12] Although the ABO and Rh are the most clinically relevant blood group systems, their prevalence varies from tribe to tribe [13] and place to place [14] . Hence, the knowledge of their distribution is essential for smooth running of blood banks [15] .…”

Distribution of ABO/Rh blood groups and their association with hepatitis B virus infection in 3.8 million Chinese adults: A population‐based cross‐sectional study

“…Previous studies have found the prevalence of blood group O to be 38.9% in Sweden, 42.3% in Denmark, 48% in the UK, 46.6% in the USA, 34% in China and 53% in Uganda . The proportions of those with Rh‐D‐negative blood have been reported to be 17.9% in Sweden and Denmark, 2% in Uganda, 0.4%‐1% in China and 14.6% in the USA . Data regarding the distribution of ABO and Rh blood groups have been primarily obtained from blood donors; however, data on blood group distribution in the general population are lacking.…”