Understanding Rh Testing (Week-D & Partial-D) and What to Do With a Positive Antibody Screen

For years everyone who had his or her blood type determined was labeled either Rh-positive or Rh-negative. A person who is Rh-positive has something called a “D” antigen and someone who is Rh-negative does not. If an Rh-negative person or “D” negative person is exposed to blood of someone who is Rh-positive or “D” positive, they can produce antibodies to the “D” antigen. A person who makes “D” antibodies has become “sensitized”. In the past this led to thousands of babies dying until Rh Hyperimmunoglobulin was developed. If Rh hyperimmunoglobulin is given to a person that is “D” negative it helps to prevent that person from making an antibody to “D”. With the expansion of genetics, we now have discovered that some people are “weak” D positive and some people are actually Partial-D positive and this has led to extreme confusion in determining how a person’s blood type should be designated and who should receive Rh hyperimmunoglobulin if treatment indicated.

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