WHY CERTAIN BLOOD GROUPS ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO COVID ACCORDING TO INDIAN RESEARCH

A recent study found that some blood groups are more susceptible to Covid-19 infection than others. Doctors at Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital reported in the November 21 issue of Frontiers in Cellular and Infectious Microbiology that blood groups A, B, and Rh + were more likely to be infected with Covid-19, while O, AB, and Rh were more likely to be present. - The risk of infection is significantly reduced. The study is said to have been conducted on 2,586 Covid positive patients admitted to the hospital from April 8, 2020, to October 4, 2020. The study also found that male patients with blood group B were more likely to develop Covid-19 disease than female patients. Patients under the age of 60 are more susceptible to the same blood type and blood group AB infection. Furthermore, it has been found that blood groups A and Rh + are associated with a decrease in recovery time and O and Rh-blood groups with an increase in recovery. It is interesting how they achieved the results. What makes some blood types more susceptible to infection than others? Research also puts numbers on the frequencies of blood types of affected patients. Blood groups, A, B, O, and AB (those in blood group ABO) accounted for 29.93 percent, 41.8 percent, 21.19 percent, and 7.89 percent, respectively. Of the patients, 98.07 percent were Rh-positive. Part of the answer comes from previous research on viral infections. Previous studies have found an association between certain diseases and ABO blood groups. For example, ABO blood groups have been shown to be more susceptible to viruses such as Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS), hepatitis B, human immunodeficiency virus, norovirus, rotavirus, dengue virus, and SARS coronavirus. Recent studies from China and other parts of the world have also shown that ABO and Rh blood groups are linked to SARS-CoV-2 infection. For example, blood type A has been found to have a higher chance of infection, while blood type O has a lower rate of infection and severity of infection. There are several theories to describe the mechanism of this association. Gene-encoded blood group antigens may be a precursor to SARS-CoV-2 infection. ABO blood groups are associated with many bacterial, parasitic, and viral infections, and play an important role as receptor and chorionic gonadotropin. These groups represent the polymorphic properties (occurring in various genetic variants) of histo-blood group antigens (HBGAs) present on the outer surface of red blood cells (RBCs). The study suggests that these HBGAs may reduce or increase the risk of disease. Furthermore, the human ABO blood group is located on chromosome 9, which is associated with an endogenous immune response. This may be a factor in the sensitivity or deficiency of blood groups. Of course, It should be clarified here that the researchers did not find any association between blood groups and disease severity and mortality, and at the end of the study, "... ABO and/or Rh blood groups are not responsible for this association because they may indicate an unexplored underlying factor such as comorbidities. Larger, multicenter, and prospective studies are needed to determine the link between CoV-2 ”.