Packed red blood cells do not have an antibody, since the greatest risk of Rh incompatible blood is to current or future pregnancies. For RBCs, type O negative blood is considered a "universal donor" as recipients with types A, B, or AB can almost always receive O negative blood safely. Type AB positive is considered a "universal recipient" because they can receive the other ABO/Rh types safely. These are not truly universal, as other red cell antigens can further complicate transfusions. There are many other human blood group systems and most of them are only rarely associated with transfusion problems. A screening test is
Blood type transfusion can be considered safe as long as the serum of the recipient does not contain antibodies for the blood cell antigens of the donor. The "ABO system" is the most important blood-group system in human-blood transfusion. The associated anti-A and anti-B antibodies are usually "immunoglobulin M", abbreviated IgM, antibodies. ABO IgM antibodies are produced in the first years of life by sensitization to environmental substances such as food, bacteria, and viruses. The original terminology used by Karl Landsteiner in 1901 for the classification was A/B/C; in later publications "C" became "O". Type O is often called "0" ("zero", or