Bombay Blood Group

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News: In a pioneering medical achievement, doctors in Chennai successfully performed a kidney transplant on a patient with the Bombay blood group, using an organ from a donor with a different blood type. The team adapted the Japanese technique of double filtration plasmapheresis (DFPP) to lower anti-H antibody levels, preventing organ rejection and making an unprecedented transplant possible.

About Bombay Blood Group

  •  The Bombay blood group (HH) is an extremely rare blood type first identified in Mumbai in 1952 by Y.M. Bhende.
  • Unlike common ABO blood types, individuals with this group do not have A, B, or even H antigens.
  • Due to the absence of the H antigen, individuals with the Bombay blood group cannot receive blood from any ABO group, including type O.
  • They can only receive blood from another Bombay blood group donor, making transfusions and organ transplants highly challenging.
  • In Bombay blood group individuals, the gene responsible for making the H antigen is mutated or absent.
  • Their immune system produces anti-H antibodies, which means they cannot receive blood from any ABO group, including O blood group, which contains the H antigen.

Why is the Bombay Blood Group Rare?

  • It occurs in 1 in 4 million people worldwide.
  • The prevalence is higher in India and South Asia, where it is found in about 1 in 10,000 people (especially in Mumbai due to genetic factors).
  • It is extremely rare in European populations (about 1 in a million).
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