Bombay blood group

The Bombay blood group is a rare blood group, phenotypes of this group lacking H antigen on the red cell membrane and have anti-H in the serum. It fails to express any A, B or H antigen on their red cells or other tissues. The existence of a human H/h genetic polymorphism was first established by Bhende et al.

The Bombay blood group, also called hh, is deficient in expressing antigen H, meaning the RBC has no antigen H. For instance, in the AB blood group, both antigens A and B are found. A will have A antigens; B will have B antigens. In hh, there are no A or B antigens.

This required blood donation. But the youngster has a very rare blood type. His blood is not O, A, B, or AB, but a special type called (hh)- a rare one first discovered in Bombay in 1952, and hence christened as Bombay Blood.