BOMBAY BLOOD GROUP

Sept. 12, 2019

Over the last two weeks, demand for the “Bombay blood group” has coincidentally spiked at Mumbai’s hospitals, but supply has been scarce.

About:

Names: H/H blood group is also known as Oh or the Bombay blood group.
Background: The rare, Bombay blood group was first discovered in Mumbai (then Bombay) in 1952 by Dr Y M Bhende.
What is it?
- The Bombay blood group, also called hh, is deficient in expressing antigen H, meaning the RBC has no antigen H. For instance, in the AB blood group, both antigens A and B are found. A will have A antigens; B will have B antigens. In hh, there are no A or B antigens.
- Often the hh blood group is confused with the O group. The difference is that the O group has Antigen H, while the hh group does not.
Transfusion limitations: The individuals with Bombay blood group can only be transfused autologous blood or blood from individuals of Bombay hh phenotype only which is very rare.
How rare is it?
- Globally, the hh blood type has an incidence of one in four million. It has a higher incidence in South Asia; in India, one in 7,600 to 10,000 are born with this type.
- This blood type is more common in South Asia than anywhere else because of inbreeding and close community marriages.