Blood advances
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Multicenter Study Observational Study
The association of ABO blood group with indices of disease severity and multiorgan dysfunction in COVID-19.
Studies on severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 1 (SARS-CoV-1) suggest a protective effect of anti-A antibodies against viral cell entry that may hold relevance for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Therefore, we aimed to determine whether ABO blood groups are associated with different severities of COVID-19. We conducted a multicenter retrospective analysis and nested prospective observational substudy of critically ill patients with COVID-19. ⋯ Inflammatory cytokines did not differ between patients with blood group A or AB (n = 11) vs O or B (n = 14; P > .10 for all cytokines). Collectively, our data indicate that critically ill COVID-19 patients with blood group A or AB are at increased risk for requiring mechanical ventilation, CRRT, and prolonged ICU admission compared with patients with blood group O or B. Further work is needed to understand the underlying mechanisms.
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Identification of risk factors for contracting and developing serious illness following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is of paramount interest. Here, we performed a retrospective cohort analysis of all Danish individuals tested for SARS-CoV-2 between 27 February 2020 and 30 July 2020, with a known ABO and RhD blood group, to determine the influence of common blood groups on virus susceptibility. Distribution of blood groups was compared with data from nontested individuals. ⋯ Hospitalization and death from COVID-19, age, cardiovascular comorbidities, and job status were also collected for confirmed infected cases. ABO blood groups varied significantly between patients and the reference group, with only 38.41% (95% confidence interval [CI], 37.30-39.50) of the patients belonging to blood group O compared with 41.70% (95% CI, 41.60-41.80) in the controls, corresponding to a relative risk of 0.87 (95% CI, 0.83-0.91) for acquiring COVID-19. This study identifies ABO blood group as a risk factor for SARS-CoV-2 infection but not for hospitalization or death from COVID-19.