Rh negative frequencies in Australia DROPPED from 19% to 14%

Remember my prediction?

SYDNEY, March 21 (Xinhua) — A new study from the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood has found that the number of people with negative blood types has been dropping over the last 20 years, presenting a challenge for future supply.

The research, published in the Medical Journal of Australia on Monday, analyzed over 1.3 million blood samples dating back to 1993.

Lead researcher on the study Dr. Rena Hirani, a senior research fellow with Australian Red Cross Lifeblood, the national body responsible for the collection and distribution of blood in Australia, told Xinhua on Monday that there has been about a 5 percent drop across Australia of people with negative blood types.

“Our previous estimates for RhD negative blood types was 19 percent. The data that we have now shows that the RhD negative population is around 14 percent.”

One of the factors behind the drop has been the level of immigration from countries and regions with low levels of negative blood types in the population, according to the researcher.

She said one of the main problems with this decline is the reduction in O negative donors. O negative is the most common blood type used for emergency transfusions when the patient’s blood type is unknown.

In Australia, fewer than 1 in 10 people have O negative blood, according to Hirani.

“I think that, what it means is that it just presents us with the challenge of collecting O negative blood particularly.”

She said that O negative blood is particularly important for women of childbearing age, as using the wrong type of blood in a transfusion could cause their children to develop Hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN), a blood disease which destroys red blood cells.

She said that now it would be particularly important for blood donor organizations to remind patients with O negative blood, and their families, to roll up their sleeves and save lives.

“I think from a blood provider point of view, we just need to be aware of the changes that are occurring, so that we can respond accordingly.”

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/20220321/1e9392dea3934dcdb189bd2df08dc261/c.html

Is Rh negative blood headed for extinction?