• DOI:10.1159/000050239
• Corpus ID: 57677644

Also sprach Landsteiner – Blood Group ‘O’ or Blood Group ‘NULL’

@article{Schmidt2001AlsoSL,
  title={Also sprach Landsteiner – Blood Group ‘O’ or Blood Group ‘NULL’},
  author={Paul Schmidt and Mathias Okroi},
  journal={Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy},
  year={2001},
  volume={28},
  pages={206 - 208}
}

• P. Schmidt, M. Okroi
• Published 1 July 2001
• Medicine
• Transfusion Medicine and Hemotherapy

Background: The designation for the universal donor blood group is the letter O in most countries, but there is preference for the use of NULL or 0, the numeral for zero, in some European countries. The matter was of little importance before the use of electronic communication for which the two are keyed differently. Methods: The assignment of identity was traced in the literature and in committee reports and correspondence from the first use by Landsteiner of the letter C, to an earlier resolution of the problem 75 years ago. Results: Confusion had arisen because of the early papers of von Dungern and Hirszfeld. It was resolved in favor of the letter O by Landsteiner working in the US National Research Council, and by Schiff with the League of Nations. Conclusions: There was concurrence of all parties who were involved in the original dispute that it is proper to use the letter O for the blood group and not 0 or NULL.