If You Have This Blood Type, You May Be Protected From The Coronavirus

As the pandemic goes on, we learn more about the coronavirus and COVID-19. Scientists around the world have been studying about how SAR-CoV-2 spreads, COVID-19 symptoms and characteristics.

A recent report on Financial Times described an ongoing study, claiming that people with a specific blood type may have better immunity against the coronavirus.

The study started in April, in which 23andMe genetic testing company collected testing service providers in helping scientists figure out the role of genetic in the severity of infections.

The study involved 750,000 participants. It found that blood type, determined by the ABO gene, might affect the infection rate.

“Preliminary data from 23andMe's on-going genetic study of COVID-19 appears to lend more evidence for the importance of a person's blood type... in differences in the susceptibility to the virus.”

The study findings say that people of type O blood may be better protected from the coronavirus. Among participants, patients of type O blood are 9-18% less likely to be infected with the virus.

It was also revealed in the study that factors like age, sex, co-morbidities, and BMI were taken into account. It appeared that there isn’t much difference in susceptibility among those factors with other blood types.

The study’s lead researcher Adam Auton said that there are other reports about links between the disease, cardiovascular disease, and blood clotting, hinting at the possible relevant genes.

“It's early days; even with these sample sizes, it might not be enough to find genetic associations. We're not the only group looking at this, and ultimately the scientific community may need to pool their resources to really address questions surrounding the links between genetics and COVID-19.”

A previous study in China also pointed out that people of type O blood is less likely to get the coronavirus while those of type A blood were the most susceptible to the virus.

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