Sunday, June 14, 2020

Blood Types and COVID-19



                     One of the challenges in COVID-19, is predicting who might require hospitalization or who might require intensive care level intervention as a consequence of complications of COVID-19. It is not as simple as whose who are elderly, and it isn't as simple as those who have an underlying or chronic medical issue.  Several months ago, I recall a couple of newspapers claiming that some physicians had indicated that some blood types had shown more of a proclivity to developing complications with COVID-19 than others, and I even remember being asked about this.  My answer at the time was that this is interesting, but that a couple of different research centers would need to confirm this, otherwise it changes nothing for us. It simply means that we all need to take the precautions as directed.

                   Today, I received an article from what should be an authoritative source on the matter, The American Journal of Nursing.  From the study described in the article, it does appear as if those with Type O blood appear to be capable of managing the illness in most cases, and that Type A individuals have had more complications.  It's an interesting article, and since a number of you asked me about it, I am simply going to provide you with the link to it here.

                 COVID-19 is not yet over. Please continue to be cautious.


https://www.asrn.org/journal-nursing/2325-23andme-study-suggests-blood-type-affects-coronavirus-susceptibility.html


Just after I posted this, the National Institute of Health's director, posted very similar findings.

https://directorsblog.nih.gov/2020/06/18/genes-blood-type-tied-to-covid-19-risk-of-severe-disease/







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