ISTRIBUTION OF ABO AND RH (D) BLOOD GROUPS AMONG STUDENTS OF SODO OROMO, WALANE AND KISTANE IN HARBU CHULULE PREPARATORY AND SECONDARY SCHOOLS AT SADEN SODO DISTRICT, SOUTH WEST SHEWA, OROMIA

The ABO and Rh (D) blood groups are the hereditary characters and are useful in population genetic studies, in resolving medico-legal issues and more importantly in compatibility test in blood transfusion practice and they are the most important blood group system in human blood transfusion and forensic investigation. The Aim of the study was to investigate the distribution of ABO and Rh (D) blood groups among students of three ethnic groups in Harbu Chulule Preparatory and Secondary School at Saden Sodo District, South West Shewa, Oromia, Ethiopia. Harbu Chulule Preparatory and Secondary School had 819 students enrolled for the academic year 2015/2016. Among them 351 (42.9%) were females and 468 (57.1%) were males. The study was conducted on 384 students. These were purposively selected and the sample was divided into Sodo Oromo, Walane and Kistane and stratified along ethnic lines. Allele frequencies were calculated under the assumption of Hardy-Weinberg principles. The overall allelic frequencies of the population as they were calculated using the extension of the Hardy–Weinberg law were 0.59, 0.21 and 0.20 for I O , I A and I B alleles, respectively. Also on the Rhesus status, the allelic frequencies were 0.81 and 0.19 for D and d alleles, respectively. Chi-square test was used to compare observed phenotypic frequency distribution of ABO and Rh (D) blood groups with that expected under the Hardy-Weinberg law. The Percentage distribution of the ABO blood group among the three ethnic groups were 30.47%, 27.34%, 7.81% and 34.38% for blood group A, B, AB and O, respectively. The most prevalent blood group was type O followed by A, B, and AB. Blood group O had the highest distribution while blood group AB had the least distribution. The percentage distribution of Rh (D) blood group among the three ethnic students were 96.35% and 3.65% Rh+ and Rhin the population of Saden Sodo district respectively. The ABO and Rh (D) blood groups vary among students of three ethnic groups.