"I don't think this supersedes other risk factors of severity like age and co-morbities and so forth," added Sekhon, who is also a clinical assistant professor in the Division of Critical Care Medicine and Department of Medicine at the University of British Columbia. They found that people with Type A blood had a 21% greater risk of the disease than their counterparts with other blood types, and that people with Type O blood had a 33% lower risk. "I think this has scientific interest, and when we find out what the mechanism is, perhaps we're able to use that proactively in some way in regard to treatment.". For instance, research suggests that people with blood type O appear to be more susceptible to norovirus infection. The blood type–infection connection is not unique to the coronavirus. You must be logged in to leave a comment. And type A patients accounted for a larger proportion of covid … By contrast, type O blood seemed to lead to a reduced risk, with 26% of the infected cases versus 34% of healthy people. In the next 24 hours, you will receive an email to confirm your subscription to receive emails Even still, experts caution that the accumulating evidence on this subject shouldn't influence everyday medical or public health decisions. A large study adds to evidence that people with type O or Rh−negative blood may be at slightly lower risk from the new coronavirus. Why do we have different blood types — and do they make us more vulnerable to Covid-19? Our Medicare Resource Center can help you make smart choices about the program. And a complication seen in many people with severe COVID-19 is blood clots in the small blood vessels of the lungs. Some people who test positive for COVID-19 develop tiny blood clots that cause reddish or purple areas on the toes, which can itch or be painful. And several other peer-reviewed studies reinforce these findings. AARP members receive exclusive member benefits & affect social change. Nor should people worry unduly about the link between blood type and Covid-19, said Dr. Torben Barington, the senior author of the Danish paper and a clinical professor at Odense University Hospital and the University of Southern Denmark. | (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg/Getty Images/CNN) People with type O blood tend to clot less that their peers, Ray says. While there are several theories, researchers don't yet know what mechanism could explain the link between different blood groups and Covid-19. People with certain blood types could be at an increased risk of dying from coronavirus, experts warn Credit: Getty Images - Getty. Save 25% when you join AARP and enroll in Automatic Renewal for first year. "If one is blood group A, you don't need to start panicking. More specific to the coronavirus is the theory of clotting. “They are at risk for COVID, just a little bit lower than type A.… That doesn't mean that [type] O is zero risk.”. Deaths among this population were 12 times as high. Sometimes called COVID toe, the rash resembles frostbite. Both studies were published in the journal Blood Advances. That previous genetic study, paired with the two new studies in Blood Advances, are "suggestive that this is a real phenomenon that we're seeing," said Adalja, whose work is focused on emerging infectious disease. "If you're type A blood, you might be at a slightly higher risk than if you're type O. In the United States. Sekhon said it could be explained by people with blood type O having less of a key clotting factor making them less prone to coagulation problems in the blood. Most of the value in the research, Silverstein says, is to learn more about the new virus that has so far infected almost 68 million people worldwide, and how the body responds to it. It makes very little difference to most people's daily lives unless you have to have a blood transfusion. The following month, a team from Columbia University examined 1,559 people in the New York City area who were tested to see whether they were infected with the coronavirus that causes COVID … Research has shown that people with type O blood are more likely to get seriously ill from cholera than others who come down with the illness; and type O blood has been shown to offer some protection against severe malaria. Recent studies have suggested that people's blood types may affect their risk of contracting the COVID-19 virus or developing a serious … In fact, type O blood were about 13% less likely to test positive … They found that blood group wasn't a risk factor for hospitalization or death from Covid-19. The researchers used health registry data from Denmark to analyze the blood types of 473,000 individuals who tested positive for COVID-19 … The reasons for this link aren't clear and more research is needed to say what implications, if any, it has for patients. Clotting has been a major driver of the severity of Covid-19. 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Most humans fall into one of four blood groups: A, B, AB or O. When these antigens come into contact with a pathogen or other unfamiliar substance, they trigger an immune system response. The findings of the two new studies provide "more converging evidence that blood type may play a role in a person's susceptibility to Covid infection and their chance of having a severe bout of Covid-19," said Dr. Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins University Center for Health Security in Baltimore, who was not involved in either of the studies. Sign up here to get The Results Are In with Dr. Sanjay Gupta every Tuesday from the CNN Health team. Values represent risk differences for each blood type relative to the reference groups: O for ABO and positive for Rh(D). As for the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19, "We need to figure out the mechanism and understand it at the molecular level to be able to say for sure how this is occurring -- that this is really the O blood type and not something that kind of tracks with O blood type," Adalja said. When this happens close to the skin, it can result in a rash. Members save 15% on medical alert service. Many people don't know their blood type. And that the worst thing that can happen is that people let their guard down,” Silverstein says. (CNN) People with blood type O may be less vulnerable to Covid-19 and have a reduced likelihood of getting severely ill, according to two studies published Wednesday. Get instant access to discounts, programs, services, and the information you need to benefit every area of your life. But in terms of a definitive marker we need repeated findings across many jurisdictions that show the same thing," said Dr. Mypinder Sekhon, an intensive care physician at Vancouver General Hospital and an author of the Canadian study. The same pattern has been emerging with O blood type tending to be the one that's standing out," Adalja said. “Clotting is always a good thing if you cut yourself, but it's a bad thing, generally, if you get a really bad infection [because it] activates the clotting cascade and tends to activate clotting in small blood vessels,” he says. This, however, does not mean they can't contract the virus or fall seriously ill from it. by Rachel Nania, AARP, December 8, 2020 Despite the growing body of research suggesting some link between COVID-19 and blood type, experts say these studies don't change much for the individual. Coronavirus vaccine: When will we have one? Still, the larger study did find that Type O blood was between 9 and 18 percent less likely to test positive for COVID-19 when compared to the other blood types… Coronavirus news -- A person's blood type may affect their risk for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, researchers report. "While we're not quite to the point where this is ironclad, it's clearly suggestive, and we have not seen anything inconsistent with this. In the meantime, please feel free They found that people with type O blood had a lower risk for contracting the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) compared to those with type A, B or AB. 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