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Today and the greatest concern of a large part of society is currently the pandemic of the COVID-19. Every day we live with greater uncertainty, so there is also an increase in research that allows us to have more information about the health situation we are experiencing. The question that surely has crossed our minds is: Is there a way to get rid of COVID-19? Perhaps factors such as blood group influence the predisposition to suffer from the virus?
IVI study on the relationship between blood group and COVID-19
From IVI we have carried out a multicenter study, presented in the latest edition of the ASRM –American Society for Reproductive Medicine, for its acronym in English-. In this study it has been shown that patients with blood group 0 positive and Rh positive have greater protection against COVID-19.
“In the data analyzed in our population, in the post-confinement period from May to June, with a sample of 6,140 patients for SARS-CoV-2, we found that the incidence of disease (understood as patients who had presented a positive antibody, either IgM or IgG) was lower in patients with group O, significantly finding that the Rh negative group had been more frequent among those infected, something contrary to what had been previously published ”, says Dr. Antonio Requena, IVI Medical Director.
“The seropositive rate does not vary significantly with age and no differences were observed in terms of gender or blood group. However, Rh negative individuals were found to have a slightly higher risk of infection than Rh positive individuals. Furthermore, in the areas with the highest prevalence of the disease, the percentage of positive IgM is also high and there is a greater risk of contagion when one of the members of the couple is already seropositive ”, adds in Dr. Requena.
Therefore, with this study, we are on the way to show that blood group may have some effect in relation to COVID-19, but it is still urgent to determine if this association is real, as Dr. Christopher Latz, co-author points out. from one of the most recent studies on the matter.
Previous information about these signs
The clue about the relationship between blood group or Rh and the probability of contracting Coronavirus arises during the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in 2002. A first study, published in 2005, indicated that patients with blood group 0 were at lower risk contagion than the rest of the groups. The same was observed in an article not reviewed by other experts, made 15 years later by scientists from China. It was reported that group 0 was associated with a lower risk of infection by Coronavirus, while group A presented a higher risk of contagion.
Since then, the investigations carried out in this regard do not represent consistent findings. In June, scientists from Europe and Australia published the results of a study comparing the genomes of 1,610 patients affected by severe COVID-19 and 2,205 healthy blood donors. The researchers observed that genetic variants in two regions of the human genome were associated with a severe degree of the disease and an increased risk of mortality. In addition, it was found that individuals in group A had up to a 45% higher risk of developing the disease severely, while individuals in group 0 had a 35% lower risk.
New studies on the effect of blood group on the probability of contracting COVID-19
In this sense, Dr. Latz and his collaborators indicated, last July, not finding a relationship between blood group and the severity of COVID-19 (Annals of Hematology). No significant correlation was found between both factors, in matters such as hospitalization, intubation or death. But it was observed that Rh-positive individuals were more likely to test positive for COVID-19 than were negative. In addition, blood groups A or AB presented a higher rate of positives than group 0.
In another study, published in April and updated in July, not peer-reviewed, the results coincide with those of Dr. Latz. It is observed that individuals with Rh positive and those of blood group B have a higher rate of SARS-CoV-2, compared to those of group 0.
However, we are in an initial phase of study, so we cannot speak of a significant association between blood group and intubation or death in patients with COVID-19. According to Dr. Latz, for now, blood type should not be used as a definitive factor to indicate the risk of severely contracting COVID-19.
