Two women found with “golden blood” in China

Jiangsu Hospital in China has discovered “golden blood” in two women in the city, one of the rarest types that less than 50 people worldwide have.

The hospital, after several tests, found null Rh blood in the blood of a patient suffering from severe anemia. To their surprise, they also decided to perform the same tests on the older sister, who eventually turned out to have the same type of plasma.

What is golden blood?

It is a type of blood that does not have the Rh factor (red blood cells do not have any Rh antigen, either positive or negative) and that, being so valuable, receives this name. But why do experts claim it is so precious?

Its carriers, 1% of the world’s population, can be universal blood donors, that is, for all existing blood groups (A, B, AB, O). However, they can only receive transfusions from people with the same blood type, which makes them incompatible with almost 100% of donations and causes their own body to reject, in most cases, organ transplants. It is notoriously difficult to locate a donor for such people.

Although two new cases have now been found on the Asian continent, namely in China, the first of all was discovered in 1961 in an Australian woman.

Since then, just under half a hundred cases have been discovered worldwide. According to experts, for a person to have this blood group both parents must also be carriers.

In China, according to the health registry, there are already 4 people who have this unusual type of blood that is considered by many a treasure for the world and, at the same time, a great risk for the carrier.