Studies in Rh Sensitization : IV. Persistence of Rh Antibodies in Serum of Sensitized Individuals

Periodic Rh antibodies were carried out over a period of one to four years in a series of 60 sensitized Rh-negative individuals. The results indicate that once an individual has become sensitized to the Rh factor, the antibodies persist in his body for the remainder of his life. An illustrative case is presented in which antibodies were found in the serum of an Rh-negative woman who had never received an injection of blood and who had had her last pregnancy twenty-two years previously.