The distribution of the ABO and Rhesus blood groups among an indigenous ethnic group in Nigeria

Abstract

Background: In this study, the authors set out to find out the ABO-RhD blood group distribution among Idoma, an indigenous ethnic group in the middle belt of Nigeria in view of the paucity of such information about the ethnic group.
Methodology: 2,000 blood donor volunteers were randomly selected from the Idoma speaking towns of Otukpo, Otukpa and Okpoga, comprising of 1,253 males and 747 females aged between 20 and 50 years. Commercial anti-A, B, H and RhD (Class technology, UK antisera were used in the study after certification by the head technologists in the haematology sections of the three general hospitals. The slide method was used, with both forward and reverse groupings carried out in determining the ABO-RhD blood groups in the subjects.
Results: Of the ABO blood group system, group O has remained the most predominant group at 58.4% while group AB remains the least distributed at a frequency of 4.7%. Similarly, in the RhD blood group, 96.5% of the study population were RhD +ve as compared to 2.5%that were RhD –ve.
Conclusion: O+veand AB-veremains the most and least predominant blood groups respectively among the Idoma ethnic group in Nigeria as seen in other parts of Nigeria and Africa at large.

Keywords: Blood groups, ABO and Rh, Idoma, Nigeria