People With Blood Type O May Be Less Vulnerable To Coronavirus, New Studies Suggest

(CNN) — People with blood type O may be less vulnerable to Covid-19 and have a reduced likelihood of getting severely ill, according to two studies published Wednesday. Experts say more research is needed. The research provides further evidence that blood type (also known as blood group) may play a role in a person’s susceptibility to infection and their chance of having a severe bout of the disease. The reasons for this link aren’t clear and more research is needed to say what implications, if any, it has for patients. Studies add to growing evidence A Danish study found that among 7,422 people who tested positive for Covid-19, only 38.4% were blood type O — even though, among a group of 2.2 million people who were not tested, that blood type made up 41.7% of the population. By contrast, 44.4% of group A tested positive, while in the wider Danish population that blood type makes up 42.4%. In the other study, researchers in Canada found that among 95 patients critically ill with Covid-19, a higher proportion with blood type A or AB — 84% — required mechanical ventilation compared with patients with blood group O or B, which was 61%. The Canadian study also found those with blood type A or AB had a longer stay in the intensive care unit, a median of 13.5 days, compared with those with blood group O or B, who had a median of nine days. “As a clinician … it is at the back of my mind when I look at patients and stratify them. But in...
Source: WBZ-TV - Breaking News, Weather and Sports for Boston, Worcester and New Hampshire - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Health News Syndicated CBSN Boston blood type CNN Coronavirus Source Type: news