Halfway through the episode where Alfie needs a donor for a liver transplant and all this talk of 'O' blood type is driving me crazy! There is either O- (kind of rare) and O+ which is the commonest one. Why haven't they specified....for a medical show it's pretty sloppy. And if it was O+ they wouldn't have nearly so much trouble finding a donor...
Just being picky, but for some reason I find this really irritating!
Maybe they have O blood which is still sitting on the fence?
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The show was entirely correct. It is confusing.... O is the universal DONOR not universal recipient. Please read this and I think that it will be clear....
I assume that you know that it did make sense that they were trying to get someone who was related because with the same blood type AND similar DNA there is an even better match.
What I found confusing is that no one in Jimmy's Taco place had blood type O. That is possible but not probable. Since O blood Type is so common. Actually A is almost as common as O.
You need to understand how blood type compatibility works....It is a little confusing..Actually Blood Type O has LESS options. They are universal donors but can only receive from an O Blood Type
Whereas the A,B, and AB blood types have more options. For example AB blood type although rare can receive donor organs from any blood type. Below is a very simple explanation (doesn't include scientific discussion of antigens and antibodies which really explain it)
Plus getting a liver donor is not easy, no matter what blood type you are.
Compatible Blood Types
Donors must have a compatible blood type with the recipient. In living donation, the following blood types are compatible:
Donors with blood type A... can donate to recipients with blood types A and AB
Donors with blood type B... can donate to recipients with blood types B and AB
Donors with blood type AB... can donate to recipients with blood type AB only
Donors with blood type O... can donate to recipients with blood types A, B, AB and O (O is the universal DONOR not receiver)
So,
Recipients with blood type O... can receive an organ from blood type O only
Recipients with blood type A... can receive an organ from blood types A and O
Recipients with blood type B... can receive an organ from blood types B and O
Recipients with blood type AB... can receive an organ from blood types A, B, AB and O (AB is the universal recipient: recipients with AB blood are compatible with any other blood type)
The approximate distribution of blood types in the U.S. population is as follows:
O-positive: 38 percent
O-negative: 7 percent
A-positive: 34 percent
A-negative: 6 percent
B-positive: 9 percent
B-negative: 2 percent
AB-positive: 3 percent
AB-negative: 1 percent
Awesome, thanks for clearing that up!
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