Blood Groups: Donate And Receive Blood

Group 0- is known as the universal donor. It is so named because people of this blood group are compatible with all blood groups. This blood group is therefore particularly popular in hospitals.

It is important to know the blood types. There are 4 main blood groups: A, B, 0 and AB0. They are determined by the presence or absence of certain proteins on the surface of red blood cells. Knowing our blood type is important so that we know who we can donate blood to and who we can get it from.

In addition, each person also has a blood type based on Rh-positive or Rh-negative, depending on the presence or absence of another antigen or protein in the red blood cells.

As we said before, it is very important that you know your blood type if you want to donate blood, for example. Even if you are in an emergency situation and need a transfusion, you will need to know your blood type so that they can give you the correct one.

Donate and receive blood

Next, let’s take a closer look at the different properties of the different blood types.

A positive (A +)

Group A positive is one of the most common blood groups. 1 in 3 people or 35.7% of the population have blood type A +.

People with A-positive can donate blood to people of their own blood type as well as people who are AB-positive. This is because they share the same type of protein, so the body doesn’t attack the new cells, but recognizes them as its own.

In the event of a transfusion, people with A + can receive group A and 0 blood. Donors in this blood group are encouraged to donate whole blood and platelets.

A negative (A-)

The proportion of people with A-negative is only 6.3% ; that means one in 16 people has this blood group.

You can donate blood to people with the following blood types:

• A-
• A +
• AB +
• FROM-

However, they can only get blood from people with A- or 0-. Donors in this group should donate whole blood and double red blood cells.

B positive (B +)

8.5% of the population, or one in 12 people, has type B +. Type B + donors can donate to people with Type B + and AB +. You yourself can receive both type B and type 0 blood.

Type B + donors can best help with whole blood donations or with double red cell donations.

Blood group B negative (B-)

This blood group is becoming increasingly rare. One in 67 has this blood type – that’s 1.5% of the population.

People with blood group B-negative can donate blood to people with blood group B-positive, B-negative, AB-positive and AB-negative. On the other hand, you yourself can only receive blood from people with the same blood group or with 0-.

People with blood group B positive are recommended to donate whole blood or platelets.

Blood groups 0-positive (0+)

Even more popular than A + is 0+. It is the most common blood group with 37.4% of the population.

People with 0+ can donate blood to any positive blood group. However, they can only receive blood from other people with 0+ or ​​0-. Donors with this blood type are encouraged to donate double red blood cells and whole blood.

Blood group 0 negative (0-)

This is the famous universal dispenser. It bears this name because people of this blood group are compatible with all blood groups. Therefore, it is most needed in hospitals.

The proportion of people with 0- is 6.6% of the population. So one in 15 people has 0-.

Although people with this blood type can donate to anyone, they themselves can only receive blood from people with the same blood type (0-). Specialists recommend donating double red blood cells and whole blood.

Blood groups AB positive (AB +)

AB + is a very rare blood group: only one in 29 people has it, which is 3.4% of the world’s population.

In contrast to 0-, people with AB + can only donate to other people in this blood group. However, you yourself can receive any blood group, which makes them the universal recipients.

Blood groups AB negative (AB-)

This group is the rarest of all blood groups. It occurs in only 0.6% of the population. People with blood group AB- can donate blood to people with AB- and AB + and receive all negative blood groups themselves.

Type AB blood carriers are encouraged to donate platelets and plasma.