A + or 0?: Blood group could decide the course of Covid 19

The connection is already noticeable to Chinese researchers; now Norwegian and German scientists can show it in a study. People with certain blood types are more likely to experience respiratory failure with Covid 19.

It has long been suspected that genetic factors could play a role in the immune defense against the coronavirus. A new study by Norwegian and German scientists now shows a relationship between certain blood types and the likelihood of respiratory failure during a coronavirus infection.

The researchers led by Tom Karlsen from the University Hospital in Oslo and Andre Franke from the University of Kiel were able to access blood samples from 1,610 patients who were treated for severe Covid 19 disease in seven clinics in Spain and Italy at the height of the epidemic.

The DNA material of these patients was extracted and examined in certain places where there are often variants. The genetic traits found were then compared to those of 2205 healthy blood donors from both countries. The researchers found that people with type A + had a higher risk of respiratory failure due to Covid-19. However, people with type O blood were better protected from the virus.

Two delicate spots

The previously published results of the Norwegian and German scientists show that the variant “rs657152” was 32 percent more common and the variant “rs11385942” was 77 percent more common in the COVID-19 patients than in the control group. “Rs657152” is the variant located on chromosome 9q34 in the ABO gene that determines blood group properties. The researchers point out that “rs657152” has already been associated with increased interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels in overweight children. The variant “rs11385942” concerns the response to inflammation in the body.

Chinese researchers had previously noticed that an above-average number of Covid-19 patients had blood group A. They also suspected a certain protective effect of blood group 0. In addition, it has long been known that people with blood group 0 rarely develop severe malaria. Blood group A, on the other hand, is more immune to the plague.

In Germany, 37 percent of people have blood type A + and 35 percent have blood type 0+. Blood group B + occurs in nine percent of people in Germany, blood groups A- and 0- in six percent. The rarest are blood types AB + with four percent, B- with two percent and AB- with one percent.

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