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The reasons for this link are unclear and more research is needed to say what implications, if any, it has for patients.
Studies add to growing evidence
In contrast, 44.4 percent of group A tested positive, while in the general Danish population that blood type represents 42.4 percent.
In the other study, researchers from Canada found that among 95 critically ill patients with COVID-19, a higher proportion with blood type A or AB (84 percent) required mechanical ventilation compared to patients with blood group O or B, which was 61 percent.
“If you are blood group A, you don’t need to panic. And if you are blood group O, you are not free to go to pubs and bars.”
It makes very little difference in the daily life of most people, unless you have to receive a blood transfusion.
People shouldn’t be unduly concerned about the link between blood type and COVID-19 either, said Dr. Torben Barington, lead author of the Danish paper and clinical professor at Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark.
“We don’t know if it’s some kind of group O protection, or if it’s some kind of vulnerability in the other blood groups,” said Dr. Barington.
“I think this is of scientific interest, and when we find out what the mechanism is, maybe we can proactively use it in some way regarding treatment.”
In the Danish study, researchers analyzed data on Danish individuals who were tested between February 27 and July 30, and the distribution of blood types among those people was compared with data from people who had not been tested. .
They found that blood group was not a risk factor for hospitalization or death from COVID-19.
While there are several theories, researchers still don’t know what mechanism could explain the link between different blood groups and COVID-19.
Other possible explanations involve blood group antigens and how they affect the production of infection-fighting antibodies. Or it could be related to genes associated with blood types and their effect on immune system receptors.
“It’s an interesting repeated scientific observation that really justifies more mechanistic work,” he said.
‘Important research question’
The previous genetic study, along with the two new studies in Blood Advances, “suggest that this is a real phenomenon that we are seeing,” said Dr. Adalja, whose work focuses on emerging infectious diseases.
“While we have not gotten to the point where this is ironclad, it is clearly suggestive and we have not seen anything inconsistent with this.
“The same pattern has been emerging with blood type O which tends to be the one that stands out.”
Dr. Adalja said that blood types and their susceptibility to various infections have been studied previously in the medical literature. For example, research suggests that people with blood type O appear to be more susceptible to norovirus infection.
“We’re starting to see enough now that I think it’s an important research question to answer.
“There is more science to do here, but it seems to me that there is more accumulating evidence for this hypothesis.”
