People who think their blood group is O may actually have Bombay Blood Group. It’s important to get screened for Bombay Group. Read on to know more.
Consider these facts:
- In June a lady got admitted to undergo a neuro-surgery at a prestigious hospital. The doctors asked for routine tests to be done and 8 units of blood to be arranged. The blood bank was shocked to discover that her blood group was Bombay Negative. Her age was 60+. In next few days her brother (a reputed doctor practicing in USA) discovered that his blood group was also Bombay group.
- In July a person underwent a Kidney Transplant at a renowned institute on Hyderabad. After a couple of days of surgery the complication continued until they shifted the person to Chennai only to discover that his blood group was Bombay group. All through his transplant the hospital thought it was O Positive. After weeks of struggling, the patient died.
- In the recently help Bombay blood group meet several regular Bombay blood group donors pointed out that they had given blood several times before being informed by the blood bank that it was Bombay Blood Group!
- A lady underwent hysterectomy. Her stitches did not heal as expected and she developed complications. When the doctors planned to re-operate her at a different hospital, they discovered that her blood group is Bombay Positive.
Sankalp Emergency Team came across all of these instances in the last 2 months. This prompts the organisation to believe that definitely there is a large number of individuals who have Bombay Blood Group and who are unaware about it. The problem is that very little awareness about rare blood types in the medical staff attending to in-patients there is a risk of improper transfusion or even being taken for surgery without adequate blood arrangement. This situation could be fatal, like it has been before. It is extremely important that people who believe their blood group to be O, get themselves screened for Bombay Blood Group.
Getting yourself tested for Bombay Blood Group is simple and it does not cost much either. In fact, if you are a blood donors, you can always insist upon the blood bank in which you donate blood to do the Bombay Blood Group test for you. Normally it is observed that for blood grouping the technician put’s three drops of blood on a slide and adds chemicals (Anti-A, Anti-B and Anti-D) to each of the drops to see if they coagulate. If the first and the second drop do not coagulate then your blood group is declared as O. In this case, they should put a fourth drop and put Anti-H in it. If it coagulates, your blood group is O or else it is Bombay Blood Group.
It is easy, immediate and does not cost much. Typically it could cost you only a few tens of rupees to get yourself screened for Bombay Blood Group. Each blood banks who attend the blood donation drives organised by Sankalp are screening for Bombay blood group as a matter of routine.
With more blood banks screening for Bombay blood group over the years the situation has been improving but the number of people who donate blood far outweighs those who don’t. The three things that can be done are:
- Public awareness,
- Pro-activity on the part of blood banks and diagnostic labs doing blood grouping and
- O group blood donors insisting for the test
This will go a long way in ensuring that people with this rare phenotype do not face unexpected and potentially life threatening situations as they do now.
To know where you can get yourself tested for Bombay Blood Group please call us on 9480044444 or mail us at sankalp.admin@gmail.com