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Blood Type And COVID-19 Susceptibility

Is blood type important in coronavirus COVID-19? A study of 2173 patients from 3 hospitals in China found that not only is blood type important in the risk of contracting COVID-19, but also in whether one dies from it.

The study found that people with type A blood are more prone to being infected with COVID-19, and also dying from it - as compared to people with other types of blood. People with type O blood had the lowest risk of catching COVID-19 and also dying from it.

The researchers pointed out that these same blood type differences occurred in the earlier SARS outbreak (lower risk in those with type O blood, and higher risk in those with type A blood). The researchers felt that "blood type is a biomarker for differential susceptibility of COVID-19" - meaning how susceptible you are to the virus. And that perhaps it is linked to "natural anti-blood group antibodies, particularly anti-A antibody, in the blood".

The study still has to be peer-reviewed, but what an interesting finding! General article describing the research from Newsweek: RISK OF GETTING COVID-19 COULD BE LINKED TO CERTAIN BLOOD TYPES, CORONAVIRUS STUDY SUGGESTS

Original study (in preprint): Relationship between the ABO Blood Group and the COVID-19 Susceptibility

Novel coronavirus COVID-19. Credit: NIAID-RML

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