Abstract
Objectives:To determine the association between ABO/Rh-D blood types and susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in Pakistan.Methods:In this cross-sectional study, 1935 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were included using consecutive sampling. Age and gender-matched sample of 1935 blood donors was used as a comparison group. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used for inferential statistics.Results:Significantly higher proportion of blood type-B was observed in COVID-19 group (35.9% vs 31.9%, p=0.009). Blood type-AB was found more frequently (14.2% vs 11.8%, p=0.03) in the comparison group. The Rh-D Positive blood types were 93.3% in COVID-19 group and 94.9% in comparison group (p=0.03). The odds of blood type-B, AB and Rh-D positive to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 were 1.195 (95% CI 1.04 – 1.36, p=0.009), 0.80 (95% CI 0.66 – 0.97, p=0.03) and 0.75 (95% CI 0.57- 0.98, p = 0.03), respectively. Blood types A and O did not have significant association with SARS-CoV-2 PCR result (p = 0.22 and 0.88, respectively).Conclusions:There is significant association between blood types B & AB and susceptibility to COVID-19. There is no association between blood types A and O with COVID-19. Rh- D positive blood types are less susceptible to COVID-19.
Highlights
The epidemic of COVID-19 started as an unusual pneumonia in China in December 2019
Zietz et al.[10] from New York reported susceptibility of blood type-B and protective effect of blood type-O to SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found that Rh-D positive blood groups were linked to higher chances of COVID-19
There is no published data from Pakistan about the vulnerability of blood types to COVID-19. This issue attracted us to determine the association between ABO/Rh-D blood types and COVID-19 in Peshawar, Pakistan where the ethnicity of the population is fairly homogenous. This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted at Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC), Peshawar, Pakistan after review and approval by the institutional review board (IRB) and institutional ethical committee (No 2184, dated 01-04-2020)
Summary
The epidemic of COVID-19 started as an unusual pneumonia in China in December 2019 It quickly spread across the globe & was announced as a pandemic by the World Health Organization.[1] In terms of human lives, it has affected 40,665,438 & the death tally is 1,121,843 as of 22nd October 2020.2 Pakistan reported its first case on 26th February 2020 & till there are 325,480 confirmed cases & its death tally is 6,702.3. Zietz et al.[10] from New York reported susceptibility of blood type-B and protective effect of blood type-O to SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found that Rh-D positive blood groups were linked to higher chances of COVID-19. Same findings have been reported from Massachusetts.[11]
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