Your blood type may play a role in how COVID-19 affects you
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Genetics may play a role in helping scientists understand why some people are more vulnerable to a severe COVID-19 complication than others, a new report suggests.
Dozens of researchers across Europe studied the genes of 1,980 coronavirus-infected patients for 8,582,968 single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, assessed. SNPs are the building blocks of DNA and are important in understanding genetic variations between people.
Results showed blood type was a major factor linked to COVID-19-related respiratory failure with one type showing a protective effect while another suggesting a higher vulnerability.
Coronavirus patients with A-positive blood were almost twice as likely to experience respiratory failure. Those with blood type O were 35% less likely to suffer from the same complication.
“Genetics likely play a role in all infections we get,” Dr. Cole Beeler, an infectious disease physician at IU Health, told News 8. “How our body and immune systems interact with viruses, bacterium, fungi and parasites usually determines if we develop symptoms of the disease, the spectrum of these symptoms and how severe the disease may be.”
The coronavirus, he said, has a unique presentation as a complicated virus but may manifest differently depending on how certain genes express themselves in a given person. Beeler was not involved in the research.
While this study was not peer-reviewed, it does raise the question about how DNA could be used to help identify COVID-19 patients who might need more aggressive treatment. But in the end, Beeler said, prevention is still key.
“Certainly if you know your blood type, this may suggest you should approach the virus with an extra level of caution. But at this point, I would expect everyone to approach it with a high degree of caution. In my opinion, everyone has a responsibility to protect (themselves and) the people around them during this pandemic.”