Blood type A people may be more vulnerable to contact coronavirus

The world is still battling with the new virus that is gradually wiping people away from the surface of the world each and every minute.

In Nigeria, Eighteen (18) cases have so far been confirmed and nine(9) in Ghana, this has sent some shock in the spines of Africans as to how they will handle it incase the number rises even though the government has placed this in place to help reduce the number of cases.

New research on the Coronavirus disease has suggested that people with blood type A may be more vulnerable and more likely to die because of COVID-19 than others.

The research, after analysing over 2,000 COVID-19 patients in China’s epicentre of Wuhan, found that those with type A blood showed a higher rate of infection, developed more severe symptoms, and died more than others.

On the other hand, people with O type tended to experience more mild symptoms from the disease and suffered fewer deaths.

Comparing the blood types of these patients to those of over 3,600 unaffected people, the study found out that while 31.16 percent of regular residents were blood type A, 37.75 percent of surveyed coronavirus patients were of the same blood type.

Of the same sample of coronavirus cases at the hospital, 25.8 percent had type O blood, compared to 33.84 percent in the general population.

The study also examined 206 patients who died from the virus, finding 85 victims, or 41.26 percent, had Type A blood. Just 52 of the deaths, or about a quarter, had Type O.

“People of blood group A might need particularly strengthened personal protection to reduce the chance of infection.

“Sars-CoV-2-infected patients with blood group A might need to receive more vigilant surveillance and aggressive treatment.”

“…blood group O had a significantly lower risk for the infectious disease compared with non-O blood groups,” the research published on Medrxiv.org stated.

The researchers led by Wang-Xinghuan of the Center for Evidence-Based and Translational Medicine, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, however, described their findings as “preliminary” and have recommended further studies.