2. DISCOVERY
• Karl Landsteiner (14 June 1868 – 26 June 1943)
was an Austrian biologist, physician,
and immunologist.
• He distinguished the main blood groups in 1900,
having developed the modern system of
classification of blood groups from his
identification of the presence of agglutinins in the
blood and identified thus enabling physicians
to transfuse blood without endangering the
patient's life.
• In 1930, he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology
or Medicine.
3.
4. ABO SYSTEM
• There are four main blood groups (types of
blood) – A, B, AB and O.
• Your blood group is determined by the genes
you inherit from your parents.
• Each group can be either RhD positive or RhD
negative, which means in total there are eight
main blood groups.
5. Antibodies and antigens
• Blood is made up of red blood cells, white blood
cells and platelets in a liquid called plasma.
• Your blood group is identified by antibodies and
antigens in the blood.
• Antibodies are proteins found in plasma. They are
part of your body's natural defenses.
• They recognize foreign substances, such as
germs, and alert your immune system, which
destroys them.
• Antigens are protein molecules found on the
surface of red blood cells.
6. The ABO system
There are four main blood groups defined by the
ABO system:
• blood group A – has A antigens on the red blood
cells with anti-B antibodies in the plasma
• blood group B – has B antigens with anti-A
antibodies in the plasma
• blood group O – has no antigens, but both anti-A
and anti-B antibodies in the plasma
• blood group AB – has both A and B antigens, but
no antibodies
7. The Rh system
• The term "Rh" was originally an
abbreviation of "Rhesus factor."
• It was discovered in 1937 by Karl
Landsteiner and Alexander S.
Wiener who, at the time, believed it to
be a similar antigen found in rhesus
monkey red blood cells
• Red blood cells have another antigen, a protein
known as the RhD antigen.
• If this is present, your blood group is RhD
positive. If it's absent, your blood group is RhD
negative.
8. This means you can be one of eight blood groups:
• A RhD positive (A+)
• A RhD negative (A-)
• B RhD positive (B+)
• B RhD negative (B-)
• O RhD positive (O+)
• O RhD negative (O-)
• AB RhD positive (AB+)
• AB RhD negative (AB-)
9.
10. Rh incompatibility
• Rh incompatibility occurs when a Rh-negative
mother is impregnated by a Rh-positive father.
The result can be a Rh-positive baby.
• In such a case, your baby’s Rh antigens will be
perceived as foreign invaders, the way viruses or
bacteria are perceived.
• Your blood cells attack the baby’s as a protective
mechanism that can end up harming the child.
• Erythroblastosis fetalis is now known as
hemolytic disease of the newborn.
