ABO Blood Types among Iraqi Patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019

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Abstract Background: A case–control study was performed to determine ABO blood group distribution in Iraqi hospitalized patients infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and healthy individuals. The severe acute respiratory coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) molecularly identified by detecting coronavirus RNA in the nasal swabs. Materials and Methods: 10770 participants were divided into 200 patients with SARS-CoV-2 and 10570 served as the control group. All patients were confirmed by real-time polymerase chain reaction and computed tomography scans from three hospitals in Babylon, Iraq. For the ABO blood type, three blood drops were obtained from each individual by pricking the tip of the index finger. Each drop was put on a slide that contained an antiblood typing serum to detect A, B, and D antigens. Statistical analysis was performed by Chi-square in SPSS version 23. Results: The distribution of the ABO blood group system in the healthy group was 24.30%, 38.80%, 26.02%, and 10.86% for type A, O, B, and AB, respectively, while in the COVID-19 patients, the distribution was 36%, 28%, 26%, and 10% for type A, O, B, and AB, respectively. Blood group type A was significantly high in the patient group (36%) compared to healthy participants, whereas the type O blood group was significantly low in patients (28%) compared to control participants. Conclusion: People with blood group A are at high risk to infect with COVID-19 (P < 0001) and the Odds ratio (OR) is 1.7. While blood group O is considered a protective factor against COVID-19 (P = 0.002) and the OD ratio is 0.6. Blood type A was most prevalent in nonsurvivor COVID-19 patients than survivors (P < 0.0001).