(Newswire.net— October 17, 2020) — Among those who tested positive for the coronavirus, scientists found fewer people with O blood type and more people with types A, B, and AB.
The results of another study also suggest that people with blood types A and AB, which together make up just under 45 percent of the population in the UK and US, have a higher risk of severe symptoms and complications from coronavirus infection – such as the need for a respirator – than those with types O or B.
The findings build on a growing body of research that reveals a link between blood type and risk of contracting the coronavirus, as well as the apparent protective effect of blood type O.
“It is very important to consider the appropriate control group because the prevalence of blood type can vary significantly between different ethnic groups and different countries,” said the lead author of the first study, Dr. Thorben Barrington, of Odense University Hospital.
His team tested 196,252 people with blood group O and 277,402 people with groups A, B, or AB. While 38 percent of people who were positive for COVID-19 were blood group O, as many as 62 percent were blood group A, B, or AB. Most of the people in the last group (202,507) were type A, and a significantly fewer number were type B (53,735) or AB (21,160).
The authors concluded that “blood type O is significantly associated with reduced susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Another study of 95 critically ill patients at a Vancouver hospital found that carriers of blood groups A and AB were at a higher risk of developing serious symptoms than those with blood types O or B. They needed a respirator more often, suggesting they had higher rates of lung damage sustained from viruses and dialysis due to kidney failure. As many as 84 percent of people with blood groups A or AB had to go to intensive care. It suggests that these two blood groups have an increased risk of organ dysfunction due to COVID-19.
The research was published in the journal Blood Advances.
Earlier this year, a study of more than 2,000 coronavirus patients in China found that out of 206 deaths, 85 had blood type A – which is 41 percent of all deaths. The Chinese team called on doctors and governments to consider differences in blood type when treating patients.
A person’s blood type has been associated with increased susceptibility to disease in the past. A 1977 study found that people with blood type O were actually more likely to get cholera. And the authors of the 1993 study suggested that people with type O blood are more likely to become infected with Helicobacter pylori bacteria, which causes stomach problems and ulcers.