The determination of blood groups / [Medical Research Council Blood Transfusion Research Committee].

Date:
1943
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The determination of blood groups / [Medical Research Council Blood Transfusion Research Committee]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    say, 5 days after transfusion. Thereafter, their potency will increase and then wane again. These facts must be borne in mind when a search is made for anti-Rh agglutinins in human sera. RECOMMENDATIONS (1) Mothers of infants which manifest signs of erythroblastosis foetalis should not be transfused with blood unless known Rh negative blood of suitable ABO group is. available. In cases urgently needing transfusion, plasma or serum should be used instead of whole blood. (2) Recipients of either sex who, from their response to previous transfusions, are suspected of having become immunised to the Rh factor should receive no further whole blood transfusions (unless Rh negative blood of suitable ABO group is avail- able), until the cause of the unfavourable response to the previous transfusion has been investigated. (3) When transfusions are given to infants affected with erythroblastosis foetalis, blood from a group O, Rh negative donor should be used whenever possible. If no such donor is available, the mother’s red cells, if of suitable ABO group, may be used, provided that facilities are available for washing them free of plasma. When this, too, is impracticable, and transfusion is urgent owing to the anaemic state of the child, a donor of group O, taken at random, may have to be used, although it should be realised that such blood will usually be Rh positive, and that its transfusion: may produce a transient increase in jaundice in the infant. In these circumstances, it is better to seek a donor amongst the mother’s relatives than to use the father or his relatives. (4) Although, when-the patient’s serum contains anti-Rh agglutinins, it is often possible to select a compatible donor by testing the patient’s serum against a number of different bloods of suitable ABO (but unknown Rh) group, using the technique recommended above, reliable results are very difficult to obtain without considerable experience, and it is strongly recommended that this method should not be attempted in practice by persons lacking such experience. (5) In all these circumstances, it is recommended that contact should be made as soon as possible with the nearest Blood Depot or Regional Blood Transfusion Officer. TRAINING OF PERSONNEL All blood group determinations should be entrusted only to personnel who have had a sufficient period of training in a laboratory accustomed to such work. The necessity of employing trained personnel is emphasised, since there has hitherto been a tendency to consider that anyone can be taught to determine blood groups in a few minutes. Now that adequate donor panels are available throughout the country, it should be unnecessary for any mass grouping to be done by inexperienced workers. It is essential, if errors are to be avoided, that workers who are making blood group determinations should fully understand the underlying principles of the methods. SUMMARY (x) The principles governing the diagnosis of the ABO blood groups are discussed. (2) Three methods of blood group determination are described, (a) the Tube Method, (0) the Tile Method, using diluted blood, (c) the Tile Method, using undiluted blood. (3) It is recommended that blood issued for transfusion from the large centres should have group determinations checked on both cells and serum. (4) Where possible, the Tube Method should be used: if this is impracticable, A Tile Method, using diluted blood, is advisable. (5) The use of undiluted blood, except by laboratory workers of long experience, is not advised.
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