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Rare blood program
Héma-Québec’s Rare blood program was established in 2023 to provide care for patients with rare blood types and to enlist their family members to participate in a family study aimed at identifying other individuals with rare blood types.
Thanks to the support of healthcare professionals, the Rare blood program helps increase and diversify Héma-Québec’s rare blood supply in order to meet the specific transfusion needs of people with rare blood types in Québec. To achieve this, multidisciplinary cooperation is essential between Héma-Québec laboratories, the hospital blood bank, the physician, the patient, and their family.
Send the signed consent form to Héma-Québec
- Email: sangrare@hema-quebec.qc.ca
- Fax: 514 527-7900
What is rare blood?
As you know, antigens on the surface of red blood cells determine blood type. In addition to the ABO and Rh blood group systems, there are more than 362 known antigens distributed across approximately 40 blood groups.
When an antigen is absent in less than one individual in a thousand (0.1%), the individual is characterized as having rare blood. This means that there is an absence of a so-called high-frequency antigen, as this antigen is present in more than 99% of the population. For example: the k antigen (Cellano) is present in 99.8% of the Caucasian population, so a k-negative person (who does not express the k antigen on their red blood cells) will be considered to have rare blood. Although O-negative and AB-negative blood types are not very common in the population (7% and 0.5% respectively), they are not categorized as rare blood types.
In some cases, it is a combination of the lack of antigen that makes it difficult to find compatible blood. Here are a few examples: D+ E-c-; K- ;Fy(a-b-); Jk(b-) or S- , absence of antigen E, c, K, Fya, Fyb, S.
Having rare blood is not a disease. The characteristic of rare blood is inherited and is often associated with the individual’s ethnic origin.
Your support makes a difference
Curious to learn more about the Rare blood program and how you can support your patients and their families? Watch our short informational video designed for health care professionals.
Who needs rare blood?
The prerequisites
Patients with either of these two conditions need rare blood:
- Patients who have developed antibodies against antigens (through alloimmunization) and therefore require broader compatibility than just ABO/Rh to prevent hemolytic transfusion reactions (absolute requirement depending on the existing antibody).
Discover how patients and their families can help strengthen the collective supply
The physician role
To inform
To inform your patient and give them the documentation about rare blood. To support you in your approach, Héma-Québec has produced documentation for patients and their families. It contains simple information for demystifying rare blood, explaining the importance of donating and consenting to the family study.
To raise awareness
To raise awareness among your patients about donating and about the importance of doing the family study. Explain them the importance of rare blood reserves and inform them that, if they ever need a transfusion, the people who can help them are their relatives or other rare blood donors.
To engage
with your patients and have them sign the consent form so that Héma-Québec can contact them to discuss donations or to encourage contact with their family members as part of the family study and to send it to Héma-Québec. Héma-Québec will follow up with the patients and their family members after receiving the signed consent form.
To communicate with Héma-Québec
Send the signed consent form to Héma-Québec by email courriel (sangrare@hema-quebec.qc.ca) or by fax (514 527-7900).
Questions about Héma-Québec’s Rare blood program?
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our team.
- Phone: 1 800 847-2525 (option 3)
- Email: sangrare@hema-quebec.qc.ca