Abstract:
The ABO and Rh blood groups are the most important blood groups despite the long list of
several other blood groups discovered so far. The ABO and Rh blood groups varies worldwide
and are not found in equal numbers even among ethnic groups. This study was aimed at
getting information and document the frequencies of alleles, phenotypes and genotypes of
ABO and Rh (D) blood group systems among Hardim secondary school students. The study
was conducted in January 2022 in the laboratory of Hardim Health Center, Hardim. Blood
samples were taken from 403 sampled volunteer students from finger-pricks and blood groups
were determined on open slide by Haemaglutination method using commercially available
anti-sera A, B, and Rh (D). Descriptive statistics was used to calculate percentage frequencies
of blood phenotype, the genotypic and allelic frequencies of the blood groups were calculated
from the observed phenotypes under the assumption of Hardy–Weinberg equilibrium. In the
ABO blood grouping system, type O was the most prevalent (40.2%) followed by A (29%), B
(24.3%) and AB the least (6.5%), in the pattern O > A > B > AB. Most of the students were
found to be Rh+ (85.9%) and Rh- (14.1%). Regarding the combined ABO/Rh blood groups, O+
was the most prevalent (142), A+ (98), B+ (84) and AB+ (22) and A- was also the most frequent
19, B- 14 and AB- 4 among Rh-negative students. The allelic frequencies of O (r), A (p) and B
(q), D and d were 0.6345, 0.1971, 0.1681, 0.627, and 0.373, respectively. Genotypic frequency
of ���� was the most (0.4026) frequent while that of ����was the least (0.0283) while DD and
dd were 0.397, 0.137 respectively. The observed and expected frequencies of individuals
having ABO and Rh blood were significantly different in both blood systems (for ABO, X2=
0.0243345 with df =3; p < 0.05 and X2 for Rh = 0.00000599, df = 1; p < 0.05). The present
study is supposed to give vital information regarding the management of blood bank and
transfusion services in the study community. The study finding would also be used as baseline
information for other researcher who would like to engage in similar studies in the area for
the future.
