Association between blood groups and COVID-19 susceptibility

COVID-19, become one of the biggest global problems in human history since the final days of 2019. Fever, dry cough, dyspnea, myalgia and fatigue are frequently encountered among the clinical symptoms of the patients. Although COVID-19 causes mild to moderate symptoms in most infected individuals, people with comorbid illness or people over the age of 60 have a higher risk of developing severe illness as well as death. In more severe cases, the infection causes pneumonia, severe acute respiratory failure, multiple organ failure, and even death. In this study, we aimed to examine the effects of ABO and Rh blood groups on the severity of COVID-19 infection (admission to intensive care units, intubation and death) among patients hospitalized in COVID-19 pandemic wards. Of the patients who were hospitalized in COVID-19 pandemic inpatient services in Malatya Training and Research Hospital; a tertiary health care facility serving as 1040-bed situated in Eastern Turkey, 300 adult patients with known blood groups, and the patients who had applied to the hospital’s blood bank during the same dates (control group=21911) were included in the study. Intensive care unit admission and mortality rates were found to be significantly higher in B blood group as compared to other blood groups, while intubation and death rates were found to be significantly lower in O blood group when compared to other groups. When the blood groups of the population (control group=21991) and COVID-19 patients were compared, it was seen that there was no significant difference between the blood groups, and the distribution was observed to be similar to that of the population. As a result, more research is needed in order to clarify the relationship between COVID-19 and the ABO and Rh blood groups to better understand the COVID-19 infection, which has affected the whole world.

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