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Don’t fret if you have rare blood group, help is online

The Vermas, a Delhi-based couple, were overjoyed when they brought home their bundle of joy, Arjunuday, in 2006. However, it was soon clear that all was not well with the baby.

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MUMBAI: The Vermas, a Delhi-based couple, were overjoyed when they brought home their bundle of joy, Arjunuday, in 2006. However, it was soon clear that all was not well with the baby.

Born with anorectal malfunction and multiple birth defects, the baby has had eight surgeries in the past two years. During their frequent visits to the hospital, the Vermas came across several couples dealing with similar problems and started a website support group (caremycolostomy.org) for parents of children with congenital defects.

“We met many parents who said arranging for blood units was the biggest concern. It was even more difficult for rare blood groups,” recalled Rahul Verma, whose son Arjunuday has AB+ blood while daughter Lavanya has AB Negative, a rare blood group. This inspired the Vermas to start a website to arrange for rare blood groups. The website rarebloodgroups.org now has over 800 registered members.

The couple plans to come to Mumbai on Wednesday to seek treatment for Arjunuday at Jaslok and Wadia Hospital. “We will hold the first-ever meet for people with rare blood groups in Mumbai on Friday,” said Verma.

“We have helped 40 patients all over India in two months,” said Rahul Verma, an MBA in finance marketing, who quit his job to devote more time to his ailing son’s treatment and to the website. “Having a rare blood group makes such illnesses twice as difficult to handle as just four per cent of the population has rare blood group,” said Verma, recalling the time when a three-month-old Pakistani boy was in urgent need of seven units of AB Negative blood for a heart surgery. “My wife, Tullika and I spent the entire night searching for the blood type, sent over 300 SMSes, made phone calls to radio stations and television channels and were finally able to arrange the blood units.”

The goal of the site is to maintain an up-to-date registry of all donors with rare blood types — AB Negative, B Negative, O Negative, A Negative and Bombay blood group – a rare genotype that is not AB, A, B or O.

“Our biggest concern is the Bombay blood group,” said Verma.  “If a Bombay blood group recipient is not transfused the blood of the exact same blood group person, it can lead to a haemolytic transfusion reaction, which can be fatal,” said Verma. “We get several emergency calls for Bombay blood group.

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