Just as with Valley Fever, concerns about coronavirus lead to questions about blood typing and risks. In decades-old Valley Fever research, blood type B was seen to be more likely to have severe infections. When scientists looked for the varying risk factors behind more severe Valley Fever, additional data was collected in later outbreaks. No particular blood type was then seen to be at a greater risk for the worst VF symptoms.
Will the early COVID-19 research hold up better than the early VF blood type research?
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People with blood type A may be more vulnerable to COVID-19, study claims.
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Researchers found that of the 206 patients in the study who died, 85 had blood type A, equivalent to 41 per cent of all deaths.
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Advice is still to wash your hands and follow the guidelines issued by authorities, whatever your blood type.
Researchers in China looked at blood group patterns of more than 2,000 people who had been diagnosed with the new coronavirus as part of a preliminary study.
They found that those with blood type A were more vulnerable to infection and tended to develop more severe symptoms while those with the more common blood type O had a “significantly lower risk” of getting the disease.
Although the study is yet to be peer-reviewed by other academics, the team are urging medics and governments to consider blood type differences when treating patients with the virus and helping prevent the spread of the disease.
Sources:
Cox RA, Magee DM. Coccidioidomycosis: host response and vaccine development. Clin Microbiol Rev. 2004 Oct;17(4):804-39.
Blood type A ‘more vulnerable’ to coronavirus – BBC Science Focus Magazine