Distribution of ABO and Rhesus blood group systems among blood donors in Sokoto North-western Nigeria

The ABO and Rhesus (Rh) are considered the most vital blood group systems in transfusion practice and their distribution is determined by genetics and environmental factors. We determined the distribution of ABO and Rh blood group systems among blood donors in Sokoto, North-Western Nigeria by conducting a retrospective study over a two-year period (1st Jan 2012 to 31st Dec 2013) at Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital (UDUTH) Sokoto, North-Western Nigeria. Blood donor records were studied for the distribution of ABO and Rh blood group systems while the Ag-Ab agglutination method using the tile technique was employed for blood group determination. Microsoft Excel 2010 was used to analyze the generated data into simple proportions and percentages. A total of 8,975 blood donors were attended to and the ABO group distribution was; O 4,659 (51.91%), B 2,109 (23.50%), A 1,865 (20.78%) and AB 342 (3.18%). While the Rh group distribution was 8,657 (96.46%) and 318 (3.54%) for Rh D positive and Rh D negative respectively. The blood group O was the commonest among the ABO group while majority of the donors were Rh positive. Our data can serve as a guide in formulating blood banking and transfusion services for hospitals in Sokoto, North-western Nigeria