Men are at greater risk than women.
Older people are at greater risk than younger people.
Those with chronic health problems like Type 2 diabetes, obesity and serious heart conditions are faring worse than those without them.
Black and Latino Americans are at greater risk than Asian Americans and whites.
Now there’s evidence that blood type could be a risk factor too.
A handful of studies have suggested that people with some blood types are more likely to be hospitalized with COVID-19, while those with other blood types are less likely to require that level of care.
Here’s a look at what scientists have learned about blood type and its role in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Yours is determined in part by the presence (or absence) of A and B antigens on your red blood cells.
If you have only A antigens, your blood type is A.
If you have only B antigens, your blood type is B.
If you have both, your blood type is AB, and if you have neither, your blood type is O.
In addition, red blood cells may have a protein called Rh factor.
The combination of A and B antigens and the Rh factor produces the eight major blood types: A-positive, A-negative, B-positive, B-negative, AB-positive, AB-negative, O-positive and O-negative.
Researchers analyzed genetic data from more than 1,600 patients hospitalized with severe cases of COVID-19 in Italy and Spain and compared them with about 2,200 others who didn’t have the disease.
After making adjustments to account for the effects of age and sex on COVID-19 risk, the researchers found striking differences in blood types of the sick patients compared with the controls.
In this population, having Type A blood was associated with a 45% increased risk of having severe COVID-19.
On the other hand, having Type O blood was associated with a 35% reduced risk of the disease.
No other blood groups were associated with a greater or lesser risk of the disease.
In addition, blood type did not seem to be linked to the risk of needing to be put on a mechanical ventilator.
Scientists say WHO ignores the risk that coronavirus floats in air as aerosol.
Scientists say WHO ignores the risk that coronavirus floats in air as aerosol.
The study design did not allow researchers to make any determination about whether blood type was associated with the risk of coronavirus infection, or, if infected, the risk of becoming severely ill.
“They also suggest that a genetic test and a person’s blood type might provide useful tools for identifying those who may be at greater risk of serious illness.â€.
At least two other groups have looked for links between blood type and COVID-19 risk and found similar results.
The first inkling that blood type might have something to do with disease risk came in March from researchers in China, who compared 2,173 COVID-19 patients in three hospitals in Wuhan and Shenzhen to more than 27,000 “normal people.†They found that people with Type A blood had a 21% greater risk of the disease than their counterparts with other blood types, and that people with Type O blood had a 33% lower risk.
The following month, a team from Columbia University examined 1,559 people in the New York City area who were tested to see whether they were infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
They found that having Type A blood was associated with a 34% greater chance of testing positive, while having Type O blood was associated with a 20% lower chance of testing positive.
In addition, people with Type AB blood were 44% less likely to test positive, although only 21 of the 682 people who tested positive for the coronavirus had AB blood.
The Columbia researchers noted that their findings about the risks associated with Type A and Type O blood were consistent with the results from China, even though the distribution of blood types was significantly different in the populations of New York, Wuhan and Shenzhen.
Another possibility is that the genes associated with blood type also affect the ACE2 receptor on human cells, which the coronavirus seeks out and latches onto, they wrote.
If your red blood cells contain A or B antigens, they will react with the antibodies and clump up on the card.
If you only see a reaction to A antibodies, your blood type is A.
If you see a reaction to both, your blood type is AB, and if there’s no reaction, your blood type is O.
Now you can see the relationship between reopening policies and COVID-19 cases.
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If go to the Red Cross, they’ll send you a donor card that indicates your blood type.
Everyone should be as careful as possible all the time, regardless of blood type.
(That goes for those with Type O blood too.).
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