This archive report was first published on 1 July 2020.
Researchers have made a groundbreaking discovery linking blood type to the severity of Covid-19. Published in the New England Journal of Medicine on July 1, 2020, the study found that individuals with blood types A-positive, A-negative, and AB-positive and AB-negative are at a higher risk of contracting the disease than non-A blood types.
The study, which involved over 1,610 seriously ill Covid-19 patients in Italy and Spain, compared patients from seven hospitals who were severely sick with those who were not sick and conducted a meta-analysis of the two case-control panels.
The team found that people with type A blood had a 45 per cent increased risk of contracting the coronavirus and developing respiratory failure compared to people with other blood types. On the other hand, people with blood type O had a 35 per cent lower risk of developing severe Covid-19.
Dr Robert Glatter, an emergency medicine doctor at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, noted that the genes controlling blood type might play a role in the make-up of cell surfaces, which could influence the susceptibility of the cell to infection by the coronavirus.
However, it is not clear why blood type influences susceptibility to severe illness. The researchers' calls for more studies on the findings could lead to the development of a vaccine or drug for the virus.
