This Blood Type Could Make You More Vulnerable to COVID-19

Soon after SARS-CoV-2 began its assault on the world, scientists began searching for clues about what, if any, factors made people more or less likely to get infected with the virus, and more or less likely to get severely sick if they did. Early studies from China in 2020 suggested people with certain blood types—specifically blood type A—might be at greater risk for getting infected—while those with type O may be protected against infection. Some small studies confirmed the connections, while others did not, leaving public health experts agnostic about how important blood type might be as a potential risk factor for COVID-19. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] While working with scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to develop a blood-based test for COVID-19, Dr. Sean Stowell, an associate pathology professor at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, learned the finger-like projections jutting from the SARS-CoV-2 virus were very similar to those from blood groups on human cells. The connection is important because the virus uses those projections, or proteins, as the entryway to bind to and then infect human cells. If the virus recognizes the blood group proteins, then that might mean certain blood groups could enhance the viruses’ ability to infect cells. That would provide an explanation for how blood type might play a role in COVID-19 risk. More from TIME [video id=f1q9l3TX autostart="...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 Source Type: news