This Blood Type May Protect You Against COVID, Study Says
Over the last year, researchers have continued to study risk factors for COVID-19. One of them? Blood type. According to a number of studies there is one blood type in particular that seems to be more protective when it comes to the virus, and people with it, are less prone to severe infection and even death. Read on to learn about the latest major study linking blood type to COVID risk—and to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Signs Your Illness is Actually Coronavirus in Disguise.
This Blood Type May Develop COVID Antibodies
A study published in late 2020 in Annals of Internal Medicine, revealed that people with type O or Rh−negative blood may be at slightly lower risk from COVID-19. 225,000 people who were tested for the virus were involved in the study, with researchers finding that risk was 12% lower for those with O blood type compared to those with A, AB, or B. Additionally, their risk for severe COVID or death was 13% lower. Additionally, those with Rh-negative blood type—especially O-negative—also seemed to have some immunity against the virus. Keep reading to see which blood type may put you at risk.
Other Studies Confirm the Connection
Additionally, a November 2020 study published in the medical journal Nature also found that blood type influences COVID risk. "Recent evidence suggests blood type may affect risk of severe COVID-19," it explained. This study involved 14,000 individuals in the New York Presbyterian hospital system and found that those with non-O blood types had a "slightly increased" infection prevalence.
"Risk of intubation was decreased among A and increased among AB and B types, compared with type O, while risk of death was increased for type AB and decreased for types A and B," researchers concluded. "Our results add to the growing body of evidence suggesting blood type may play a role in COVID-19."
Your Blood Type Does Not Make You Immune to COVID
"Recent data suggests that people with blood type A have a significantly higher risk of acquiring COVID-19 than non-A blood types," reports Nebraska Medicine. "Blood type O seems to have the lowest risk. Yet these risks are relative, meaning people with type O blood are not immune to COVID-19." "We do know that people of all types can get infected with COVID-19," cardiologist Daniel Anderson, MD, Ph.D. told them.
RELATED: If You Feel This You May Have Already Had COVID Says Dr. Fauci
Other Facts May Complicate Your Chances of Infection
"Blood type is not the only factor in disease severity," says Nebraska Medicine. "How much virus you were exposed to, your age, plus any of your underlying health conditions also affects the course and severity of the disease. Say, for example, you and your friend who have the same susceptibility are both sharing a bus with someone who has asymptomatic COVID-19. Your friend sits next to the person infected. You sit 7 feet away from both of them. Your friend would have a worse case of COVID-19 because they were infected with more virus."
How to Survive the Pandemic—and Save Lives
As we said, no matter your blood type, you are not immune to COVID-19. So follow Dr. Anthony Fauci's fundamentals and help end this pandemic, no matter where you live—wear a face mask that fits snugly and is double layered, don't travel, social distance, avoid large crowds, don't go indoors with people you're not sheltering with (especially in bars), practice good hand hygiene, get vaccinated when it becomes available to you, and to protect your life and the lives of others, don't visit any of these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.
