Distribution of ABO, Rhesus D and Subgroups of ABO among Blood Donors in Sokoto, North Western Nigeria

ABO, Rhesus D and subgroups of ABO are highly immunogenic and are the common cause of antibody production in mismatched blood transfusions, haemolytic transfusion reaction and maternal alloimmunization. The aim of this study was to determine the occurrence of ABO, Rh D and subgroups of ABO among blood donors attending Specialist Hospital Sokoto, Nigeria. ABO, Rhesus D and subgroups of ABO antigen status of 176 blood donors with mean age of 30.44 ± 8.210 years attending Specialist Hospital Sokoto were determined using tile method for ABO and Rh D and conventional tube method for anti- A1, anti- H reagents for ABO subgroups respectively. Among the 176 subjects tested, blood group O+ was the most frequent group with 93 (52.8%), 39 (22.2%) were blood group B+, 37(21.0%) were blood group A+, 5 (2.8%) were blood group AB+, 2 (1.1%) were blood group O-. No data was obtained for A-, B- and AB- blood groups. Out of 37 A blood groups obtained, 31 (83.8%) had A1 antigens and 6 (16.2%) had A2 antigens. Out of the 5 AB blood groups, all had A1B antigens. The study also shows that there was statistically significant difference between blood group A and ethnic groups (Hausa, Fulani and Yoruba) (p<0.05). Blood group O was found to be the most frequent followed by B, A and AB except among Hausa which revealed a pattern of O> A> B> AB. ABO, subgroups shows majority had A1 followed by A2 and A1B respectively.