Leslie Silberstein, a spokesperson for the American Society of Hematology and hematologist at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, told Medical Daily. “We inherit our blood groups on genes,” Dr. If you found out you're type AB, you're pretty unique, in fact, you have the rarest blood type of all. So why are so few people categorized as AB? What is your blood type? Donate and find out.You’ve probably donated blood at least once in your life so, along with free apple juice, the American Red Cross gave you a card identifying your blood type. Nearly 16 million blood components are transfused each year in the U.S.' For more about plasma donation, visit the plasma donation facts. The universal plasma donor has Type AB blood. The universal red cell donor has Type O negative blood. The need for O+ is high because it is the most frequently occurring blood type (37% of the population).

However, the need for O negative blood is the highest because it is used most often during emergencies.

Only 7% of the population are O negative. Types O negative and O positive are in high demand. Minority and diverse populations, therefore, play a critical role in meeting the constant need for blood. Type O is routinely in short supply and in high demand by hospitals – both because it is the most common blood type and because type O negative blood is the universal blood type needed for emergency transfusions and for immune deficient infants.Īpproximately 45 percent of Caucasians are type O (positive or negative), but 51 percent of African-Americans and 57 percent of Hispanics are type O. Why? O negative blood can be used in transfusions for any blood type. Universal donors are those with an O negative blood type.

What is the most common blood type