Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 Credit National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases-Rocky Mountain Laboratories, NIH
Scientists around the world have been studying Covid-19 and trying to understand why some patients get severely infected by the novel coronavirus, while others remain asymptotic. A recent genetic study of Covid-19 patients in Italy and Spain has correlated the severity of infection with blood type; with persons having type A blood more likely to develop severe infection and type O less likely.
The study compared the genome sequences of severely infected Covid-19 patients with healthy subjects. According to the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine [1], gene variants in two regions of the human genome are associated with severe COVID-19. One of the two regions contains the gene coding for a person’s ABO blood type and the other plays a role in the immune system.
Further studies indicate that people with blood type A have a 50 percent greater risk of getting severely infected with COVID-19 and needing oxygen support. People with blood type O, in contrast, showed a 50 percent reduced risk of developing a severe condition.
This new study suggests there is a relationship between A, B, AB, or O blood type and COVID-19 risk. However, the effect of blood type might be small compared to other factors according to Laura Cooling, director of immunohematology at the University of Michigan. “It’s what your blood type is, relative to the other person who exposed you, relative to all the other genetic and acquired health conditions you have,” she says. More studies are needed to fully understand the implications of these new findings.
More About the Study
[1] Genomewide association study of severe Covid-19 with respiratory failure . Ellinghaus D, Degenhardt F, et. a. NEJM. June 17, 2020.