Question

Explain why a person with type A blood should not receive type B blood. Merely saying that agglutination or clumping occurs is not enough. How does agglutination occur and what is the result of this to the patient?

Answer 1

People who have type A blood, have A antigen on their red cells, simlarily people who have type B blood have B antigen on their red cells, Your immune system will produce antibodies against any blood antigens you don’t have in your own blood. That means people with type A blood create antibodies against B antigens. and vice-versa, so when ever this antigen mixes with the antibody agglutination occurs, or in other words  a person with type A blood receiving a transfusion of type B would have an ABO incompatibility reaction. In an ABO incompatibility reaction, your immune system attacks the new blood cells and destroys them.

This aggressive, incompatblity reaction in this patient can give him a fever, chills, and low blood pressure (hypotension). It can even cause vital body systems like breathing or the kidneys to fail