Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Apr 19;21(1):161.
doi: 10.1186/s12905-021-01315-3.

Prevalence of Rhesus D negativity among reproductive age women in Southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Tesfaye K Kanko  1 , Melat K Woldemariam  2
Affiliations

Prevalence of Rhesus D negativity among reproductive age women in Southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Tesfaye K Kanko et al. BMC Womens Health. .

Abstract

Background: The Rhesus (Rh) blood group system is the next most clinically significant blood group system following the ABO blood group. Rh D-negative women are at risk of alloimmunization following exposure to Rh D-positive blood. The exposure of Rh D-negative women to Rh D-positive fetal blood may cause hemolytic disease of the fetus or new-born due to Rh incompatibility. Knowing Rh blood phenotype has paramount importance to prevent the risk of sensitization and bad obstetric outcome in Rh D-negative women. Despite the aforementioned fact, the distribution of Rh D-negative phenotype of women was not explored in Arba Minch Zuria district, southern Ethiopia. This study was aimed to assess the prevalence of Rh D-negative blood phenotype among reproductive-age women in Arba Minch Zuria district, southern Ethiopia.

Methods and materials: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among reproductive-age women in Arba Minch Zuria district, Southern Ethiopia from March to April 2019. Socio-demographic data were collected using an interviewer-administered semi-structured questionnaire and blood phenotype determination was done by laboratory technicians using the slide method principle aseptically and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 21 was used for analysis.

Result: The data were collected from 417 study participants with a 98.8% response rate. This study revealed that 2.1%, 1.9%, 1.2%, and 1% of study participants with blood group O, A, B, and AB were Rh D negative, respectively. In this study, the overall prevalence of Rh D negative phenotype was found 6.2% among reproductive-age women in Arba Minch Zuria district, Southern Ethiopia.

Conclusions: This study showed a high prevalence of Rh D negative factor among reproductive-age women in Arba Minch Zuria district. Therefore, counseling of reproductive age women on the importance of Rh D factor status determination would be worthy to avoid the potential risk of sensitization among Rh D negative women in order to prevent hemolytic disease of the fetus and new-born.

Keywords: Blood phenotype; Reproductive women; Rh negative; Rhesus D factor.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflict of interest in this work.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
ABO blood group profile among study participants in Arba Minch Zuria district (n = 417)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Contreras M, Daniels G. Antigens in human blood. In: Hoffbrand AV, Catovsky D (eds) Postgraduate haematology, 6 ed. Wiley, West Sussex. 2011; 244–267.
    1. Avent ND, Reid ME. The Rh blood group system: a review. Blood. 2000;95(2):375–387. doi: 10.1182/blood.V95.2.375. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Landsteiner K, Weiner AS. An agglutinable factor in human blood recognized by immune serum for rhesus blood. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1940;43:223–4. doi: 10.3181/00379727-43-11151. - DOI
    1. Hunshikatti KB. PR Pranita A study on the prevalence of rhesus factor among at tertiary care center in North Karnataka. Int J Curr Res. 2015;7(01):11556–8.
    1. Reid ME, Lomas Francis C. The blood group antigen facts book. Elsevier Academic Press, London, 2005.