Rh disease

Common card · No. 289258

Rh disease (also known as rhesus isoimmunization, Rh (D) disease, or rhesus incompatibility, and blue baby disease) is a type of hemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn (HDFN). The term "Rh disease" is commonly used to refer to HDFN as prior to the discovery of anti-Rho(D) immune globulin, it was the most common type of HDFN. The disease ranges from mild to severe, and occurs in the second or subsequent pregnancies of Rh-D negative women when the biological father is Rh-D positive due to the presence of anti-D antibodies (the D antigen being only one of more than 50 in the Rh complex). Due to several advances in modern medicine HDFN can be prevented by treating the mother during pregnancy and soon after delivery with an injection of anti-Rho(D) immune globulin (Rhoclone, Rhogam, AntiD). With successful mitigation of this disease by prevention through the use of anti-Rho(D) immune globulin, other antibodies are more commonly the cause of HDFN today.

Read on Wikipedia · Image Mikael Häggström, M.D. Author info - Reusing images - Conflicts of interest: None Mikael Häggström, M.D. Using ChatGPT to adapt and integrate Rh antigen image, preserving only standard molecular stru…, Public domain