Blood Type A given to Type O Lethal?

Question

This is a anatomy/physiology question: Would Type A blood given to Type O blood person be lethal?

Serious answers only please!

reference if you can!

Answer 1

i'm 13, so from prior knowledge, i think the blood would be rejected. If the type O blood person were having a blood transfusion and is possibly anemic, it could be highly fatal.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, it's not really a true/false question.

Group A blood contains the A antigen, and the anti-B antibody.

Group O blood contains the anti-A and anti-B antibodies.

So, giving group A blood to a group O recipient would cause the A antigens of the blood to react with the recipient's anti-A antibodies.  It certainly could be lethal, but it depends on how much blood is given and how strong the recipient's antibodies are.

Answer 3

If the blood transfusion was stopped early enough, the patient should not die.  If the patient was fully anaesthetised (so masking symptoms like pain at transfusion site/rise in temperature/shaking etc.) and the transfusion continued, the patient may die due to an acute transfusion reaction leading multi-organ failure.

Answer 4

It could well be lethal.

Type O blood has antibodies in its plasma against types A and B blood. If type A red cells are introduced to type O blood, these antibodies attach to antigens on the type A cells' surfaces. This leads to the red cells being destroyed by the type O recipients immune system. This response is called "Acute Haemolytic Reaction" and is most severe in a Type A donor and Type O recipient. It is a medical emergency and leads to a loss of blood pressure, feelings of impending doom, acute renal failure, seizures, unconsciousness and death.

The reaction is so severe that in a conscious patient, a few mls of type A blood will result in symptoms. In an unconscious patient, however, it can take much longer to notice.