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The incidence of anti‐Wr a and Wr a antigen in blood donors and hospital patients
Author(s) -
Wallis J. P.,
Hedley G. P.,
Charlton D.,
Parker P. C.,
Scott Y.,
Chapman C. E.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
transfusion medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.471
H-Index - 59
eISSN - 1365-3148
pISSN - 0958-7578
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3148.1996.tb00096.x
Subject(s) - incidence (geometry) , medicine , antigen , pediatrics , immunology , physics , optics
Summary. A retrospective study of positive 37°C indirect antiglobulin test IAT) for compatibility following negative antibody screens in a hospital laboratory revealed an unexpectedly high incidence of Wr a ‐incompatible units. Over the course of 1 month 1112 routine patients' samples containing no other atypical antibodies were tested for the presence of anti‐Wr a . Anti‐Wr a was found in 88 patients, an incidence of 7.9%. Testing of 5098 healthy blood donor samples found 54 donors positive for anti‐Wr a , an incidence of 1–06%. A survey of 5253 healthy blood donor samples for Wr a antigen found only two Wr a ‐positive samples, suggesting an incidence between 1 in 1000 and < 1 in 10000. The significance of this finding is discussed in relation to the continuing use of an IAT compatibility test.