Factors such as age and underlying health conditions, such as diabetes, may increase the risk of contracting coronavirus, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. USA But one more factor that could affect your chances of getting coronavirus is your blood type, at least according to a recent study.
According to a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine by an expert-reviewed team, a team published Wednesday in the peer-reviewed New England Journal of Medicine, according to a study published Wednesday in a revised New York Journal of Medicine by experts, according to a study published Wednesday by a team. of European scientists. Meanwhile, people with type O blood, the most common blood type, are less likely to get coronavirus than people with other blood types.
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The researchers arrived at this result after performing a genetic analysis on more than 1,900 severely ill coronavirus patients in Spain and Italy and comparing them to more than 2,000 non-sick patients.
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A common feature they found was a group of DNA that determines blood types, among other components within the human body. This sparked further investigation into what specific blood types were present in most of the severe coronavirus cases they observed.
Because the DNA cluster is found in other parts of the body, it may not be the case that the blood type can predict the risk of contracting coronavirus, said Roy Silverstein, a hematologist who is chairman of the Faculty’s department of medicine. of Wisconsin Medicine.
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Those who are not Type A should not interpret this study as lowering their guard. Similarly, the data is not yet compelling enough to recommend that people with Type A need to do even more than is recommended. ”
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“Those who are not type A should not interpret this study as lowering their guard,” said Silverstein, former president of the American Society of Hematology. “Similarly, the data is not yet compelling enough to recommend that people with Type A need to do even more than is recommended.”
“Everyone should pay attention to the prevention of COVID-19 by following well-accepted guidelines related to social distancing, facial covering, hand washing, and self-isolation and testing in the context of possible COVID-related symptoms.” .
A previous study published by the Southern University of Science and Technology in China, which has not been peer-reviewed, and a study by 23andMe, a private genetic analysis company, noted similar results.
But still, Silverstein urged people to take these findings “with a grain of salt.”
“This study, along with other studies from China and 23andMe, suggest, but do not prove, a statistical association between non-O blood type at risk of infection with the COVID-19 virus, or at risk of developing serious disease if infected.”
But the studies, he said, should prompt “more rigorous clinical studies as well as basic science studies to investigate the mechanisms by which ABO blood type and / or ABO genes could influence the coronavirus’s ability to infect cells or the the body’s immune response to the virus. “
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