Covid 19 coronavirus: new study finds blood type can reduce virus risk

A new study of more than a million people suggests that those with a certain blood type have a lower risk of COVID-19 than others.

The new study of 1.05 million participants over four months, published on medrxiv.org, found that people with type O blood may be less susceptible to contracting coronavirus.

The results have not been peer-reviewed and are based on research results from personal genomics and biotechnology company 23andMe, which conducted the COVID-19 study this year.

It found that people with type O blood appear to have a lower risk of becoming infected and are also less likely to have a severe case of the disease.

“Our data support a role in susceptibility to infection, suggesting that blood group O is protective in contrast to blood groups that are not O,” the scientists wrote in their findings.

Interestingly, blood group AB did not show a different result than blood group A or B.

The reason for a possible protective link between blood group O and the coronavirus is unclear, but the authors suggested a mechanism in the “binding and internalization of SARS-CoV-2 viral particles,” that is, when the virus binds to the blood cell.

The study was based on web-based surveys where respondents reported themselves. The surveys included an initial baseline survey and three subsequent surveys.

TechnologyNetworks.com noted that self-report methods are subject to validity issues because the veracity of the subjects’ responses cannot be confirmed.

“The evidence to date is still preliminary. It is interesting and has reignited the debate about what the role of the blood group system is,” Dr James McFadyen, Principal Investigator at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“But none of these studies are definitive at all.”