It’s been observed that Fiji Indians tend to have a higher prevalence of blood type B compared to other groups in the area. This is based on observations from the public blood bank; Fiji Indians also make up the majority of donors. Unfortunately, there is no literature to support this, and the information I have gathered is from informal conversations. Religious influence might explain why Fiji Indians are the major donors.
Interestingly, Fiji Indians are disproportionately affected by anemia, which is likely due to religious dietary patterns, such as abstaining from meat during certain days of the week—sometimes up to three days, and even longer during festivals.
Also, the demand for blood spikes during the dengue season.
Do you know the reason ? What are your thoughts on this ?
The pattern you have observed among Fiji Indians is fascinating and highlights how community-specific factors shape public health trends. A higher prevalence of blood group B may reflect genetic ancestry, while the large proportion of donors could indeed be influenced by strong cultural and religious values around charity and service. The link between anemia and dietary practices, such as frequent vegetarian days or festival fasting, is well documented in other South Asian communities too, especially when iron rich alternatives are limited. Combined with seasonal spikes in dengue, which increases transfusion needs, these patterns create a unique public health dynamic. More formal research could offer valuable insights.
A much deeper understanding of this observation has to be gained through further studies on this question. This observation might be a random one, such as increased blood donation by type B donors, or it might be due to evolutionary developments that support the survival of more people with the type B blood group. It is difficult to jump to a conclusion of this observation without a strong scientific evidence.
Thank you for your very interesting feedback. I really hope studies can be done, but I’m not sure if the medical institutions based here would be interested in carrying out such research for various reasons. Perhaps it can be taken up by researchers from India, provided they get adequate funding to do so. Collecting data would be relatively easy to verify with appropriate approvals to find the dominant blood type and the predominant donors in terms of ethnicity.
Hi Vishaarad: Blood type O+ve is most common in the US. In India, O+ve and B+ve are pretty close in percentage. So, that is why you might be seeing a good deal of B+ve blood type in Indian -origin Fijians.
I still hope there would be research on the cultural aspect of Fiji Indian donating blood at a higher rate compared to their population size. There is data on Indo-Guyanese, and some information on Afro-Surinamese who have migrated to the Netherlands; both groups show interesting dynamics.