Bombay blood group patient saved from jaws of death after timely blood transfusion from donors

Mangaluru: Indian Red Cross Society (IRCS), Dakshina Kannada (DK) District saved the life of a woman, admitted as in-patient at Lady Goschen government hospital, by ensuring that the patient received two units of the rare Bombay blood group here recently.

"The health of woman with Bombay blood group deteriorated and the hospital had approached IRCS's blood bank, located in the hospital premises, seeking two units of Bombay blood. "As Bombay blood is a rare blood group, we alerted blood donor groups, helpline among others. Finally Sudhir from Udupi and John from Kerala responded to the pleas. They travelled to Mangaluru and donated blood to the patient, informed sources in blood bank. The woman is now recovering and will be discharged soon, sources added gratefully. 

Those with Bombay Blood group can receive blood only from those who have Bombay blood, informed Former Chairman of IRCS, DK unit, Dr Muralee Mohan Choontharu. Bombay blood group is generally present in about 0.0004% (about 4 per million) of human population. As it was first discovered among some people in Bombay (now Mumbai) by Y M Bhende at KEM Hospital in Mumbai. Bombay blood group is also known as Oh blood group or HH group, Dr Choontharu said.

"If an individual has blood group ‘A’ , it means that the person has antigen of type ‘A’ and antibody ‘B’ in the blood. Those with AB have both antigen A and B in their blood and no antibodies. People with ‘O’ blood group have only antibodies A and B and no antigens. All these groups have an antigen `H' in the blood also. There are very few people who do not have this antigen H in their blood. But they have antibody `H' and thus no other blood can be given to those with Bombay blood," Dr Choontharu explained.

A transfusion of the wrong blood group can be fatal for someone with Bombay blood, he added.