COVID-19 susceptibility
Individuals with blood type O may have lowest risk of infection;
individuals with A and AB may have increased risk of severe clinical outcomes


Date:
October 14, 2020
Source:
American Society of Hematology
Summary:
New studies suggest people with blood type O may have a lower risk
of COVID-19 infection and reduced likelihood of severe outcomes,
including organ complications, if they do get sick.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Two studies published today in Blood Advances suggest people with blood
type O may have a lower risk of COVID-19 infection and reduced likelihood
of severe outcomes, including organ complications, if they do get sick.


==========================================================================
As the pandemic continues, the global biomedical research community is
working urgently to identify coronavirus risk factors and potential
therapeutic targets. The potential role of blood type in predicting
risk and complications of COVID-19 infection has emerged as an important scientific question. These new studies add evidence that there may be an association between blood type and vulnerability to COVID-19; however, additional research is needed to better understand why and what it means
for patients.

Individuals with blood type O may be less vulnerable to COVID-19 infection Blood type O may offer some protection against COVID-19 infection,
according to a retrospective study . Researchers compared Danish health registry data from more than 473,000 individuals tested for COVID-19
to data from a control group of more than 2.2 million people from the
general population. Among the COVID-19 positive, they found fewer people
with blood type O and more people with A, B, and AB types.

The study results suggest that people with blood types A, B, or AB may
be more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than people with type O. The researchers did not find any significant difference in rate of infection between A, B, and AB types. Since blood group distributions vary among
ethnic subgroups, the researchers also controlled for ethnicity and
maintained that fewer people with blood type O tested positive for
the virus.

"It is very important to consider the proper control group because blood
type prevalence may vary considerably in different ethnic groups and
different countries," said study author Torben Barington, MD, of Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark. "We have the advantage of a strong control group -- Denmark is a small, ethnically homogenous country with a public health system and a central registry
for lab data -- so our control is population-based, giving our findings
a strong foundation." Blood groups A and AB associated with increased
risk of severe clinical outcomes of COVID-19 infection People with blood
groups A or AB appear to exhibit greater COVID-19 disease severity than
people with blood groups O or B, according to a separate retrospective
study . Researchers examined data from 95 critically ill COVID-19 patients hospitalized in Vancouver, Canada. They found that patients with blood
groups A or AB were more likely to require mechanical ventilation,
suggesting that they had greater rates of lung injury from COVID-
19. They also found more patients with blood group A and AB required
dialysis for kidney failure.

Together, these findings suggest that patients in these two blood groups
may have an increased risk of organ dysfunction or failure due to COVID-19
than people with blood types O or B. Furthermore, while people with blood
types A and AB did not have longer overall hospital stays than those
with types O or B, they did remain in the intensive care unit (ICU)
for a longer average time, which may also signal a greater COVID-19
severity level.

"The unique part of our study is our focus on the severity effect of blood
type on COVID-19. We observed this lung and kidney damage, and in future studies, we will want to tease out the effect of blood group and COVID-19
on other vital organs," said study author Mypinder S. Sekhon, MD, of the University of British Columbia. "Of particular importance as we continue
to traverse the pandemic, we now have a wide range of survivors who are
exiting the acute part of COVID-19, but we need to explore mechanisms
by which to risk stratify those with longer- term effects."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by American_Society_of_Hematology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Mike Bogetofte Barnkob, Anton Pottegaard, Henrik Sto/vring,
Thure Mors
Haunstrup, Keld Homburg, Rune Larsen, Morten Bagge Hansen,
Kjell Titlestad, Bitten Aagaard, Bjarne Kuno Mo/ller, Torben
Barington. Reduced prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in
ABO blood group O. Blood Advances, 2020; 4 (20): 4990 DOI:
10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002657
2. Ryan L. Hoiland, Nicholas A. Fergusson, Anish R. Mitra, Donald E. G.

Griesdale, Dana V. Devine, Sophie Stukas, Jennifer Cooper,
Sonny Thiara, Denise Foster, Luke Y. C. Chen, Agnes Y. Y. Lee,
Edward M. Conway, Cheryl L. Wellington, Mypinder S. Sekhon. The
association of ABO blood group with indices of disease severity
and multiorgan dysfunction in COVID-19.

Blood Advances, 2020; 4 (20): 4981 DOI:
10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002623 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201014161544.htm

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