According to two studies released earlier this month, researchers suggest that people with blood type O may not be as susceptible to contracting COVID-19, as well as others including organ complications if they do get the virus.
According to two separate retrospective Blood Advances studies, biomedical experts believe they may have identified coronavirus risk factors and potential treatment options.
How blood type may determine COVID-19 risk factors and complications emerged as an important question in their research, and these new reports may provide some answers.
However, the researchers acknowledge that additional data is necessary to better understand what this means for the future.
Blood type O carriers may have stronger resistance to COVID-19 infection
The first retrospective study outlined evidence which suggests that those with blood type O may offer some protection against COVID-19.
Researchers analyzed Danish health registry data from nearly 500,000 individuals that tested for COVID-19. Among those who tested positive, they found fewer people with blood type O than all the other blood types.
Overall, the report suggests that blood types A, B or AB may have weaker resistance against COVID-19 than those with type O.
The researchers also reported that they didn’t find a substantial distinction in the rate of infection between A, B and AB types. Since blood type usually varies among ethnic groups, the researchers also considered ethnicity and doubled down on the assertion that fewer people with blood type O tested positive for the virus.
“It is very important to consider the proper control group because blood type prevalence may vary considerably in different ethnic groups, and different countries,” said study author Torben Barington, MD, of Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark. “We have the advantage of a strong control group—Denmark is a small, ethnically homogenous country with a public health system and a central registry for lab data—so our control is…