Coronavirus: People with blood group A more at risk?

A recent China study suggests that people with blood type A might be more vulnerable to the coronavirus infection. On the other hand, people with blood type O might be resistant to it. The study was conducted with 2000 coronavirus patients in Wuhan and Shenzhen.
The study found that people with blood type A showed a higher rate of infection and were likely to form more severe symptoms. The research, though preliminary, gives countries the chance to consider these differences when planning for measures to treat coronavirus patients.
The research was led by Wang Xinghuan from the Centre for Evidence-Based and Translational Medicine at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University. He wrote, “People of blood group A might need particularly strengthened personal protection to reduce the chance of infection. Sars-CoV-2-infected patients with blood group A might need to receive more vigilant surveillance and aggressive treatment.”

According to a paper published on March 11, people with blood type O were less likely to catch the infection.

Out of the 206 patients who died from coronavirus in Wuhan, 85 had blood type A as compared to the 52 who had blood type O.

The report has been authored by scientists and doctors from Beijing, Wuhan, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Gao Yingdai, a researcher with the State Key Laboratory of Experimental Hematology in Tianjin said, “The results could be improved with larger sample size. Though 2,000 was not small, it is dwarfed by the total number of patients infected by the coronavirus, now exceeding 180,000 globally.”

“Another limitation of the report is that it provides no clear explanation of the phenomenon like the molecular interaction between the virus and the blood cells,” Gao said. Blood types can be identified by a specific antigen found on the red blood cells that trigger a specific immune response.

Wang, who led the research, wrote in the paper, “It might be helpful to introduce ABO blood typing in both patients and medical personnel as a routine part of the management of Sars-CoV-2 and other coronavirus infections, to help define the management options and assess risk exposure levels of people.”

Gao said, “The results of the new study may be helpful to medical professionals, but ordinary citizens should not take the statistics too seriously. If you are type A, there is no need to panic. It does not mean you will be infected 100 per cent.”

The report also does not suggest that people with blood type O are completely safe. They still need to wash their hands and take all necessary precautions laid down by the World Health Organisation.

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