Can O- blood donate to any kind of other blood?

Question

I know that any blood type can recieve O blood, but when it comes to Rh+ and Rh-, is it the type O blood that's Rh- that can donate to any type, or Rh+? And why is this?

Answer 1

Yes, O negative is the universal donor. On red blood cells, there are three major antigens that can provoke an immune response if introduced into a foreign host. These antigens are the "A" antigen, the "B" antigen, and the "Rh" antigen. O negative individuals have none of these antigens, and O negative red blood cells are non-immuogenic in the recipient. The confusing part of this corollary is that "O" is not an antigen. "O" simply stands for the absence of either the "A" or "B" antigens.

Answer 2

Most of the time yes, but there are certain exceptions to this.

O belongs to the A B O blood group along with A, B, and AB
O red blood cells as mentioned above lack the A or B antigen (they actually have an H antigen (the precursor to A and B) and will not react with either A, B or AB group blood. But antibodies to these blood group antigens are naturally occuring.
This is the most clinically significant of the blood group systems, a mismatch of these groups is very quickly fatal.
A person who is A has antibodies to B and so can receive only A or O red blood cells
a person who is B has antibodies to A and so can Receive B or O
AB has no antibodies and so can receive A, B , AB or O (universal receiver)
and a person who is O has antibodies to A and B so can only receive O.
A strange (and rare one) is the bombay blood group which lack the H antigen (found on O cells), they have antibodies to A, B and H so cannot receive A, B, AB or O, but have to receive bombay blood (yes even O neg blood will kill someone who is bombay blood group)

The negative refers to the RhD or rhesus D status, this is a little more complicated, there are about 46 antigens in this group, the 5 main ones being D, C, c, E and e, the most important being D as it will elicit the strongest immune response and reaction when a mismatch of rhesus blood groups occurs.
Rh D pos person can receive RhD pos or neg blood
But a Rh D negative person should usually receive only RhD neg blood
(sometimes RhD+ blood is given to Rh- person when there is a shortage of blood, the reason for this is that the first time someone is exposed to the foreing antigen, there is no reaction, but their immune system is primed, so that if they are exposed a second time there will be a severe and sometimes fatal reaction, this is what happens when a Rh negative mother conceives a Rh positive child the first one is ok, but if a second Rh positive child is conceived the mothers antibodies can cross the placenta and attack the childs blood in the womb).

for the above reasons, women of child bearing age or younger will usually recieve O neg as a priority, older people or males are sometimes given O positive blood in emergencies, as O positive blood is much more common.

There are many more blood groups, including Kell, Duffy, Kidd, MNS, P, Lewis and Lutheran consisting of hundreds of different antigens. Some of these are clinically significant and can cause severe if not fatal ractions if not matched corectly. The percentage of these blood groups antigens depends on the population, in some places these they are higher than in others.

O neg blood is still considered the universal donor as it is compatible 99% of the time with any recipient, this is why it is kept in emergency departments, intensive care units and operating theatres. It is used in emergencies when compatability testing cannot be performed in time. One percent of the time however this can cause a severe or fatal reaction, for example if someone with an anti Kell antibody recieves Kell positive blood, even though it is O negative it will in all likelyhood kill the patient.

This is why, if time permits scientists like me test a patients group and screen for antibodies, then perform compatablility testing. This involves mixing the patients plasma or serum (liquid part of the blood) with the donors red blood cells to see if there is a reaction.

Answer 3

Rh- individuals can donate blood to Rh- and Rh+, however, Rh+ blood in an Rh- individual will cause an immune response. There are antigens present on the surface of blood cells in Rh+ that are not present in Rh-, therefore Rh+ will illicit an immune response from Rh- individuals. This can present quite a problem when an Rh- woman becomes pregnant with an Rh+ child.

Answer 4

Rh- type O can be con
Type O is the universal donor but strictly speaking considering the rhesus gene we can say it's Type O-Rh negative

Answer 5

Donors of Blood group O were always referred to as 'universal donors.' But now new research and a better understanding of the complex issues regarding immune reaction related to incompatible donor Blood cells, type O Blood is no longer automatically seen as being suitable in most every case