[srmorton]

The O Positive blood will not hurt him in the least the first time he receives it. Humans do not have a naturally occurring antibody to the Rh D antigen on which the positive typing is based. It has to be stimulated by prior contact with the antigen. The only ways to have contact with the antigen is by becoming pregnant with an Rh positive baby (which, of course, your husband has not) or to be transfused with Rh positive blood. This has not happened before or the antibody screen on his serum would show the presence of the antibody and he would not be a candidate for such a transfusion.

I am a registered Medical Technologist and my advice would be to use this option only as a last resort. Even though this initial transfusion will not cause your husband any adverse effects, a transfusion like this can only be done once because afterwards he would make an antibody that would prevent him from being able to receive O Positive blood again. There is a drug (RhoGam) that prevents the formation of the antibody, but I do not know how well it works if an entire unit of O Positive blood has been transfused. If it is necessary to save his life or if he requires so much blood that it would be hard for the hospital to obtain that much O Negative (which is always in short supply), then I would recommend that he go ahead and receive the transfusion. If he needs only a unit or two and it is not an emergency situation, I would recommend that he wait until the hospital can obtain some O Negative blood.

Hope this helps!

Susan R. Morton, MT(ASCP), CLS(NCA), MA

[pepperdog]

Yes, it helps greatly. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[Coldwater Creek]

Thanks, your advice is exactly what we decided to do. There might be another time that he would need that 0+ in an accident or emergency surgery.

Maria