Blood Type Test

ABO Blood Typing, Rh Blood Typing

What To Think About

• Severe transfusion reactions are rare today because blood type is always done before a person receives a blood transfusion.
• Blood type may be done to check the identity of birth parents. For example, in a paternity case, if the blood types of a mother and her child are checked against blood types of the possible fathers, the real father can sometimes be found by the blood type match. But blood type is more useful in proving that a man is not the father than it is in proving that he is the father. Other tests, such as a human leukocyte antigen (HLA) type, may be done. For more information, see the medical test Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA).
• Additional blood tests are done on donated blood before using it. These include hepatitis, syphilis, and human immunodeficiency (HIV). For more information, see the medical tests Hepatitis B Virus Test, Hepatitis C Virus Test, Syphilis Tests, and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Test.

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Author:	Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS	Last Updated: June 12, 2008
Medical Review:	Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine W. David Colby IV, MSc, MD, FRCPC - Infectious Disease
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