Question

Bill wants to determine his blood type, so he takes a few drops of blood from a puncture wound in his finger and mixes it with various antisera. His blood cells agglutinate when mixed with the anti-A sera but not with the anti-B or anti-D sera. This means?

1) Bill is Rh positive.
2) Bill's red blood cells contain the O surface antigen.
3) Bill could donate blood to an individual with type O blood.
4) Bill's plasma contains B antibodies.
5) Bill could receive type B-negative blood in a transfusion.

Answer 1

Bill's blood type is A negative because his blood agglutinates with anti-A sera and not with anti-B or anti-D sera, indicating the presence of A antigen and absence of B and Rh (D) antigens. He has B antibodies in his plasma and could receive B-negative blood, but cannot donate blood to a type O individual.

Step-by-step explanation:

If Bill's blood cells agglutinate when mixed with the anti-A sera but not with the anti-B or anti-D sera, it means that Bill's blood contains antigen A but not antigen B or the Rh (D) antigen. Bill's blood type would therefore be A negative (A-). This suggests that Bill's plasma likely contains the B antibodies that would agglutinate type B blood cells. Considering blood donation and transfusion compatibility:

Bill is Rh negative, not Rh positive.

Bill does not have the O surface antigen since his blood agglutinated with anti-A sera.

Bill could not donate blood to an individual with type O blood, because his blood contains the A antigen, which would be incompatible with the anti-A antibodies present in a type O individual's plasma.

Bill's plasma contains B antibodies.

Bill could receive type B-negative blood in a transfusion, as he has antibodies against B antigen, but B-negative blood does not contain the B antigen that would cause a reaction.

Answer 2

Bill has blood type A negative (A-), which means Bill's plasma contains B antibodies and Bill could receive type B-negative blood in a transfusion.

So, the correct answer is options 4 and 5.

Explanation

If Bill's blood cells agglutinated when mixed with the anti-A sera but not with the anti-B or anti-D sera, this indicates certain characteristics about his blood type. First, the agglutination with anti-A serum means that Bill's red blood cells have the A antigen on their surface and thus he has blood type A. The lack of agglutination with the anti-B serum suggests that he does not have the B antigen, ruling out blood types B and AB. As for the Rh antigen, the lack of agglutination with anti-D serum indicates that Bill does not have the Rh antigen, making him Rh negative (Rh-). Therefore, Bill's blood type is A negative (A-).

Given this information, we can address the options presented:

• Blood type A negative means that Bill cannot be Rh positive (1), nor does he have the O surface antigen, as he has antigen A (2).
• Option (3) is not possible either, as Bill has the A antigen and only type O blood, which lacks A or B antigens, can be donated to individuals with type O blood.
• As Bill has blood type A, his plasma contains B antibodies (4).
• Lastly, since Bill is Rh negative, he can safely receive type B-negative blood in a transfusion (5), because while he has anti-B antibodies, the Rh factor is compatible—there are no D antigens to react with his anti-D antibodies.

So, the correct answer is options 4 and 5.