Abstract
Since December 2019, the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has extended its reach over most of the world, infecting over four million people and causing well over 300,000 deaths so far.[1] A significant percentage of infected patients develop severe symptoms and life-threatening conditions. While COVID-19 infection can affect all ages, available evidence points to older age and pre-existing comorbidities, such as hypertension, diabetes, and coronary heart disease, as important risk factors related to increased mortality rates.[2-4] Moreover, recent reports from China and the U.S. have suggested that susceptibility, and perhaps even mortality, to COVID-19 infection might be influenced by the ABO blood type. The purpose of the present minireview is to analyze the evidence published in the COVID-19 literature and to put it in the context of the existing knowledge about the association of blood group types and disease.
Highlights
A report from Zhao et al analyzing data from 2,173 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection from three hospitals in Shenzen and Wuhan, China, reported that persons with blood type A made a significantly higher proportion of the total infected and deceased patients compared to persons with blood type O, implying that people with blood type A may be more vulnerable to the virus
Meta-analyses on the pooled data from Wuhan and Shenzhen showed that blood group A had a significantly higher risk for COVID-19 infection, with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.28 (95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.43, p=0.02) compared with non-A blood groups, whereas blood group O had a significantly lower risk for the infectious disease, with an OR of 0.68 (95% confidence interval: 0.600.75, p
In another study from China, a report by Zeng et al comparing a cohort of COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms to another with severe symptoms, showed higher proportions of patients with blood group A in both groups (36% and 39% respectively), compared to a reference population, confirming that individuals with blood group type A were more susceptible to COVID-19 infection
Summary
A report from Zhao et al analyzing data from 2,173 patients with confirmed COVID-19 infection from three hospitals in Shenzen and Wuhan, China, reported that persons with blood type A made a significantly higher proportion of the total infected and deceased patients compared to persons with blood type O, implying that people with blood type A may be more vulnerable to the virus. [4] According to the report, while in the studied regions approximately 31 % of the population had blood type A, they represented approximately 37% of the cases and 41% of the mortalities. In a retrospective cohort study including 265 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia in the Central Hospital of Wuhan, Li et al reported a distribution of approximately 39%, 25%, 10% and 26% for patients with blood groups A, B, AB and O, respectively. [5] The proportion of patients with blood group A infected with COVID-19 proved again to be significantly higher than that for the control group (39 % vs.32%, p=0.017).
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