Y’all have all heard about the eight most common blood types, yes? O+, A+, B+, AB+, O-, A-, B-, & AB-. I, for instance, am A+ (although I have no idea as to whether I’m an AO or an AA). That means I can take blood from O’s (+/-) & A’s (+/-), but can only give to A+’s & AB+’s.
Well, after giving blood for the first time this summer, I went online & found out some fascinating information: that there are even more (albeit extremely uncommon) blood types!
About one in 1000 people inherits a rare blood type, but some are even classified as “very rare” if only found in 1/10,000 of the population. Although every single person, even people with rare blood types, has an ABO blood group designation, “having a rare blood type” means that some sort of unusual antigen is found on a person’s blood cells, or that a common antigen (besides A, B, or O) is missing. This is possible because scientists have found hundreds of other antigens on various blood cells. Either way, it can heavily complicate blood transfusions in the case of an emergency, so it’s always good to get tested. There is also an American Rare Donor Program (ARDP) specifically for individuals with rare blood types.
What’s even more interesting (yet kind of obvious) is that certain rare blood types are related to very specific ethnic groups. For instance, take a look at these ethnically-related blood types:
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African American Blacks - U- and Duffy- |
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American Indians and Alaskan Native peoples - RzRz |
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Pacific Island peoples and Asians - Jk ( a- b- ) |
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Hispanics - Di ( b- ) |
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Russian Jews - Dr ( a- ) |
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Whites - Kp ( b- ) and Vel |
Russian Jews! I could have had a Dr( a-) blood type!
Even beyond that, certain ethnic groups are associated exclusively (or almost exclusively) with certain major (ABO) blood groups. For instance, more than 80% of North American Blackfoot Indians have Type A Blood, and certain Latin or South American groups such as the Mayas, Bororo, & Peru Indians have 98-100% Type O Blood. Also, the Buryats and Kalmuks of Siberia / Mongolia have among the highest rates of Type B Blood, 38-41%; and various Asian groups such as Koreans, Tartars, Kalmuks, Peking Chinese, and Ainu Japanese have the highest rates of the most uncommon major blood type, Type AB Blood, 10-18%. The Grand Andamanese, the Negrito Indigenous people of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal (near India / Bangladesh / Myanmar / Thailand) have the lowest incidence of the world’s most common blood type, Type O, at 9% of the population.
Prevalence of Blood Group A around the World
Some diseases associated with rare blood types include:
