THE CONNECTION BETWEEN COVID-19 AND ABO BLOOD GROUP: A BRIEF REVIEW

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic started in December 2019, and is still spreading throughout the world affecting 96, 53,048 people, and caused 4, 91,128 deaths so far last accessed on June 27, 2020). A significant percentage of patients develop severe and life-threatening symptoms among infected COVID-19 patients. Although COVID-19 infection can occur in all groups, studies suggest that the mortality rate is high in older age and patients having comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and coronary heart diseases.   Studies reports from the United States (US) and China suggested that the ABO blood group types can influence susceptibility and mortality rate of COVID-19. The O blood group individuals are less affected by SAR-CoV-2 due to the presence of anti-A antibodies more specifically IgG anti-A antibody in the serum should be the considered factor compared to the blood groups itself, as far as the association between susceptibility to COVID-19 and blood group is concerned. This brief review was done to analyze the published reports on COVID-19 and add it to the existing knowledge about the association of COVID-19 and ABO blood types.