Rohit Shishodia
People with blood groups A, B and Rh positive factors are more susceptible to COVID-19 infection whereas O, AB and Rh negative factors are at lower risk of the infection, finds the study conducted by Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital researchers.

It also found that there is no association between blood groups and susceptibility to severity of disease as well as mortality, the study further reveals.

This research published in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology was conducted on total of 2,586 Covid-19 positive patients tested through real-time PCR who were admitted at SGRH from April 8, 2020 to October 4, 2020.

Dr. Rashmi Rana, Consultant, Department of Research, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, “Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is a new virus, and it is unclear whether blood groups have any impact on Covid-19 risk or progression. Therefore, we investigated the association of ABO and Rh blood group with Covid-19 susceptibility, prognosis, recovery time, and mortality in this study.”

Dr. Vivek Ranjan, Co-author and Chairperson, Department of Blood Transfusion , Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi, “ We also found that male patients of blood group B are more prone to Covid-19 than the female patients with blood group B and Blood Group AB was observed to be more susceptible to infection in patients with age group  60 years or less.”

The study also found that Blood Group A and Rh + types are associated with a decrease in recovery period, whereas Blood Group O & Rh- are associated with increase in recovery period. However, the ABO and/or Rh blood groups may not be responsible for this association, as these may indicate an unexplored underlying factor like co-morbidity. Therefore, larger, multicenter, and prospective studies are needed to ascertain the relationship of between blood groups and SARS-CoV-2.