Why is AB negative the rarest blood type?

Answer 1

1% or less

About 1% of the population has AB- blood. There are slight differences in the percentage from country to country but in the US and most other countries AB- is approximately 1%

Type AB negative blood is quite rare. In general, the percentage of this blood type in any population is less than 1%. This is due to the fact that type AB blood is the least common type of blood in virtually all populations and, furthermore, Rh negative blood is typically found in only 15% or less of any population. The exact percentage of AB negative blood varies among different ethnic groups and in different geographic regions. For example, the overall U.S. average is approximately 0.6%, the value in African-Americans is about 0.2%, and the value in Oriental-Americans, Hawaiians, North American Indians, and Australian Aborigines is virtually zero percent.

Answer 2

The answer to this will depend on the level of complexity in which you wish to discuss the ABO blood system. To put it simply, AB is the least common.

There are, however, subtypes of A and B. The most common subtypes of A are A1 and A2. Several others exist that are very rare, including A3, Ax, Ael, Aend, Am, and AY. B subtypes are very rare, and include B3, Bx, Bm, and Bel. The least common ABO phenotype is Bombay, which is a group O individual with missing H antigen. This phenotype is so rare that a international list of Bombay individuals exists, such that a Bombay donor can be matched with a recipient as needed. Bombay individuals can only receive transfusions from other Bombay individuals.

Answer 3

AB negative is "rare" only in terms of percentage of population. Blood types in the ABO system are determined by the presence or absence of specific sugars on the red blood cell membrane. The sugars are placed on the red cells by proteins encoded by genes inherited from our parents. The ABO system is inherited in a codominant manner, meaning if the gene is present, the associated sugar will be expressed.

Approximately 4% of the worlds population is type AB, and 15% is Rh negative. Therefore, 0.6% would be AB negative. While this is a low percentage, in transfusion medicine there is rarely a shortage of red cells for AB patients (the most commonly used blood product). Since AB, Rh positive patients may receive any ABO type RBC's (generally), and ABO, Rh negative patients may be transfused any Rh negative RBC's, they are rarely at risk for low inventory of compatible blood.

In practice, the "rarest" blood type is the type not available when needed.

Answer 4

That's actually my blood type. It's uncommon, but AB negative is actually the least common. There's a common misconception that you can get paid for donating AB type blood - this is simply not true, as AB blood could only be used by AB recipients, whereas AB recipients could receive A, B, or O (with matching Rh, of course). The O blood type - referred to as the "universal donor" would be more in-demand.

Answer 5

Not necessarily, it depends on the genetics of the parents.

Answer 6

The distribution of blood types in the general population is what makes some rarer than others. The types with Rh Negative factors are the rarest:

O-, A-, B-, AB-

Answer 7

About 7% of people have A- bloodtype

Answer 8

Rarest blood type would be AB-

Answer 9

Very rare