Evaluating Association between ABO Blood Groups and COVID 19

Background and objectives: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2 virus that has taken a toll on people all over the world. Previous studies have demonstration association of ABO blood groups with increased susceptibility to various conditions such as infection with Helicobacter pylori, Hepatitis B virus and Norwalk virus and even SARS-CoV- 1. In this cross-sectional study, we investigated the association between ABO blood groups and COVID-19 in a tertiary care hospital in western Uttar Pradesh, India. Methods: The study included data from 500 SARS- CoV-2-positive patients who were referred to the hospital. Diagnosis of COVID-19 was made using RT-PCR. Data including demographic information, comorbidities, ABO blood group, Rh factor, clinical severity as well as the need for assisted ventilation, ICU admission and plasma therapy were collected from patients’ medical records. The Pearson’s correlation, chi square and Fischer exact tests were used to analyze data at significance of 0.05. Results: Frequency of COVID-19 was highest in blood group B (34.8%) and lowest in blood group AB (11.2%). Furthermore, patients with blood group A had significantly more severe form of COVID-19 when compared to patients with other blood groups. The frequency of ICU admission, assisted ventilation and plasma therapy was significantly higher in patients with blood group A than in patients with other blood groups. Conclusion: Our results suggest that patients with blood group A are at higher risk of developing severe COVID-19 infection that may require assisted ventilation and ICU admission. Hence, these patients might require more vigilant surveillance and aggressive treatment measures. Further studies are required to validate these findings.