We all know of the ABO system of defining blood groups but doctors at the Kasturbha Medical College and Hospital in Mangaluru discovered a rare blood group ‘P null’, first of it’s kind in India.
A patient at the Kasturbha Medical College and Hospital in Mangaluru required urgent blood transfusion. When the patient’s sample did not match with over 80 different units of blood, the Blood Bank at the Kasturba Hospital sent the sample to the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory (IBGRL), Bristol, United Kingdom, for a further diagnostic tests.
Post extensive testing, the team at IBGRL confirmed that the patient actually had a rare blood group ‘p null’ or “pp” phenotype. This is the first instance of a rare blood group being identified in India.