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Does the blood we donate get tested somewhere?


By rakeshdhanya - Posted on 16 December 2008

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The donor's blood type must be determined if the blood will be used for transfusions. The collecting agency usually identifies whether the blood is type A, B, AB, or O and the donor's Rh (D) type and will screen for antibodies to less common antigens. More testing, including a crossmatch, is usually done before a transfusion. Group O is often cited as the "universal donor" but this only refers to red cell transfusions. For plasma transfusions the system is reversed and AB is the universal donor type. Donated blood is tested by many methods, but the core tests recommended by the World Health Organization are these four:

  • Hepatitis B
  • Hepatitis C

  • HIV

  • Syphilis

  • Malaria