EMM Negative Blood Group: India's 1st person from Gujarat! What is it? How it was discovered?

EMM antigens are antibodies that develop naturally in the human body

There are nine globally registered persons in the world with EMM negative blood type. Pic: Representational from Pixabay

A 65-year-old man from Gujarat's Rajkot required blood to undergo a cardiac surgery last year. But the doctors were not able to determine the blood group of the patient.

During the course of treatment, it was discovered that the patient had a rare blood type -- EMM negative. In general, there are four types of blood group -- A, B, O, or AB, which further consist of 42 types of systems, like A, B, O, Rh and Duffy. There are also 375 types of antigens in which EMM is high.

Doctors were surprised to learn that he had a unique blood group and referred him to Ahmedabad. But there too, the doctors couldn't find the life saving fluid matching to his blood group.

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The lab testing of the blood sample collected from his body was quite different and strange from the existing groups. The sample was sent to a lab in New York for testing. It took a year for the researchers to come to the conclusion that the blood group was AB+ blood group with EMM negative frequency. The patient died a natural death earlier this year.

What is EMM negative?

The Rajkot man is said to be the first person in India and 10th in the world with an EMM blood group. As EMM level is low in blood, the International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT) named it EMM negative. The blood group has been given symbol ISBTO42.

EMM negative people can't donate

People with EMM negative blood group can't donate blood to anyone. They neither can accept blood from anyone.

Experts say that if a person even receives blood from a person belonging to the same group, then the chances of reaction inside the body multiply and could proved to be fatal.

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