Blood group compatibility
Eight groups, one rule: a patient must not receive an antigen their own blood does not have. Everything below follows from that.
The full compatibility grid needs a wider screen. Each group is listed individually below, with what it can receive and what it can give.
Blood group O-
- Can receive from
- O-
- Can donate to
- O-O+A-A+B-B+AB-AB+
Blood group O+
- Can receive from
- O-O+
- Can donate to
- O+A+B+AB+
Blood group A-
- Can receive from
- O-A-
- Can donate to
- A-A+AB-AB+
Blood group A+
- Can receive from
- O-O+A-A+
- Can donate to
- A+AB+
Blood group B-
- Can receive from
- O-B-
- Can donate to
- B-B+AB-AB+
Blood group B+
- Can receive from
- O-O+B-B+
- Can donate to
- B+AB+
Blood group AB-
- Can receive from
- O-A-B-AB-
- Can donate to
- AB-AB+
Blood group AB+
- Can receive from
- O-O+A-A+B-B+AB-AB+
- Can donate to
- AB+
Common questions
- Which blood group is the universal donor?
- O negative. Its red cells carry neither A nor B antigens nor the Rh D antigen, so they can be given to a patient of any group. That is exactly why O negative stocks run out first.
- Which blood group can receive from everyone?
- AB positive. It carries A, B and Rh D antigens, so a patient of that group will not react to any of them.
- Can a positive group donate to a negative one?
- Not for red cells. Giving Rh positive blood to an Rh negative patient can cause them to form antibodies, which is dangerous now and in any future transfusion or pregnancy.
- Does compatibility mean a transfusion will definitely go ahead?
- No. This chart covers red cell ABO and Rh D compatibility only. A hospital always cross-matches the actual units against the actual patient before transfusing.
VitaDrop uses exactly this table when it ranks donors — there is one compatibility service in the codebase and every screen reads from it.