Is type O blood universal?

O type blood is often called universal blood. As we know, the most common blood types are O type, A type, B type and AB type. Blood type is a genetic marker of human beings. Blood cells contain blood type antigens. In fact, O type blood is not universal blood, or it can be called O type blood is a dangerous universal blood type. If you are not careful, it may have adverse effects on the patient's health. Let’s take a look at this aspect.

Is type O blood universal?

Our daily blood type usually refers to the different antigens carried by the red blood cells in the blood. There are four blood types: A, B, O and AB.

The principle of classification is to see whether there are A and B antigens on the red blood cells. If there is only A antigen, it is called type A; if there is only B antigen, it is called type B; if there is no A antigen or B antigen, it is called type O; if there is both A antigen and B antigen, it is called type AB.

People tend to think that type O blood is "universal blood" because it can be transfused not only to people with type O blood, but also to patients with the other three blood types. So, is this really the case?

Judging from the test results, there are no A or B antigens on O-type red blood cells, so O-type red blood cells can be transfused to A, B, or AB type patients when the major side matching is compatible, without being bound by the relative anti-A or anti-B antibodies in the recipient's serum. Therefore, the transfused O-type red blood cells are not destroyed. At first glance, it seems that this is really "universal blood" that anyone can use.

Why is O blood type called "the dangerous universal blood type"?

But in fact, the medical name for O-type blood is more than just this word. They call it the "dangerous universal blood type", and the crucial word "dangerous" is often overlooked by us.

This is because although people with type O blood do not have A or B antigens on the surface of their blood cells, there are substances in their plasma that can fight against A or B antigens. If red blood cell preparations containing type O plasma are transfused into the bodies of type A, B, or AB patients, it will cause varying degrees of immune hemolytic transfusion adverse reactions.

If the amount of blood transfused is small and the amount of blood in the recipient's body is large, the chance of hemolysis of the bound red blood cells can be reduced through dilution in the blood circulation and the neutralization of some anti-A and anti-B antibodies in the O-type serum by some type A or type B blood type substances in the recipient's plasma. However, if the amount of O-type blood transfused is large and the concentration of anti-A and anti-B antibodies in the serum is very high, serious transfusion reactions may also occur.

It can be seen from this that the "universal blood donor" is not omnipotent, and it also poses serious dangers.

At present, when hospitals give blood transfusions to patients, in principle, they must first insist on transfusions of the same blood type. Secondly, for patients with a history of repeated blood transfusions, such as a history of neonatal hemolytic disease or multiparous women, more methods should be used to identify other blood types and perform blood matching tests before transfusion. Blood transfusions can only be performed if coagulation does not occur to ensure the safety of blood transfusions.

Generally speaking, transfusion of the same type of blood is the most ideal and safest way. Only in emergency situations when there is a lack of blood of the same type do doctors have to use the "dangerous universal blood type" O type blood instead. After all, it has come to such a critical moment. Saving lives is more important than anything else, even if it means taking some risks.

But even so, before doctors transfuse type O blood into patients with type A, B or AB blood, blood stations need to strictly "process" the type O blood - they must remove as much plasma as possible from the blood to reduce the occurrence of hemolytic reactions. Even if this step is achieved, it is still difficult to avoid the hemolysis caused by what is medically known as "irregular antibodies".

Therefore, just as the blood station calls for, every one of us with different blood types must be brave enough to donate blood, and must not have thoughts like "it's enough to let people with universal O-type blood donate." Only by ensuring the normal inventory of blood of each blood type can doctors get the most adequate support when saving lives and save more lives.