Journal of Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research

Blood Group And Rhesus Factor

  The Rh blood type system is one among 36 known human blood type systems. It is the second most vital blood type system, after the ABO blood type system. The Rh blood type system consists of 49 defined blood type antigens, among which the five antigens D, C, c, E, and e are the foremost important. There is no d antigen.Rh(D) antigen, whereas someone who may be a Negative lacks the Rh(D) antigen). The terms rhesus factor , Rh-positive blood type , and Rh-negative blood type ask the Rh(D) antigen only. Antibodies to Rh antigens are often involved in hemolytic transfusion reactions and antibodies to the Rh(D) and Rh(c) antigens confer significant risk of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn. The term "Rh" was originally an abbreviation of "Rhesus factor." it had been discovered in 1937 by Landsteiner and Alexander S. Wiener, who, at the time, believed it to be an identical antigen found in rhesus red blood cells. It was subsequently learned the human factor isn't just like the rhesus factor, but by then, "Rhesus Group" and like terms were already in widespread, worldwide use. Thus, not withstanding it's a misnomer, the term survives (e.g., rhesus blood type system and therefore the obsolute terms Rh factor , rhesus positive, and rhesus negative). Contemporary practice is to use "Rh" as a term of art rather than "Rhesus" (e.g., "Rh Group," "Rh factors," "Rh D," etc.).    

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