Effects of blood group types on risk of infection, disease severity, and mortality in COVID-19 patients

Abstract

Aim: COVID-19 is an epidemic communicable disease that has been declared as a pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. Clinical studies have demonstrated that advanced age and comorbid conditions enhance the severity of the infection. The objective of this study was to examine the of effects of blood group types on risk of infection, disease severity, and mortality in COVID-19 patients.
 Material and Method: Included in this study were 1618 patients who had been diagnosed with PCR confirmed COVID-19 infection. The age, gender, blood type, disease severity, need for intensive care, and deaths of the patients were analyzed retrospectively. For the distribution of the blood types in a healthy population, statistics for the blood types of individuals in Ankara for 2020 were obtained from the Republic of Turkey Red Crescent Blood Services and used as a healthy control group for comparison with the data of the patients included in the study.
 Results: Among the COVID-19 patients, blood type A was the most common type at a rate of 46.2%. This was followed by blood type O at a rate of 28.4%. The least common blood type was found to be type AB at a rate of 9%. When compared to the healthy population, blood type A was determined to be statistically significantly more common in COVID-19 infection (p=0.07,). In contrast, blood type O was determined to be less common when compared to the healthy population (p