ABO / Rh-D Blood types and susceptibility to Corona Virus Disease-19 in Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the association between ABO/Rh-D blood types and susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in Pakistan.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 1935 confirmed cases of COVID-19 were included using consecutive sampling. Age and gender-matched sample of 1935 blood donors was used as a comparison group. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used for inferential statistics.

Results: Significantly higher proportion of blood type-B was observed in COVID-19 group (35.9% vs 31.9%, p=0.009). Blood type-AB was found more frequently (14.2% vs 11.8%, p=0.03) in the comparison group. The Rh-D Positive blood types were 93.3% in COVID-19 group and 94.9% in comparison group (p=0.03). The odds of blood type-B, AB and Rh-D positive to test positive for SARS-CoV-2 were 1.195 (95% CI 1.04 – 1.36, p=0.009), 0.80 (95% CI 0.66 – 0.97, p=0.03) and 0.75 (95% CI 0.57- 0.98, p = 0.03), respectively. Blood types A and O did not have significant association with SARS-CoV-2 PCR result (p = 0.22 and 0.88, respectively).

Conclusions: There is significant association between blood types B & AB and susceptibility to COVID-19. There is no association between blood types A and O with COVID-19. Rh- D positive blood types are less susceptible to COVID-19.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.3655

How to cite this:
Rahim F, Amin S, Bahadur S, Noor M, Mahmood A, Gul H. ABO / Rh-D Blood types and susceptibility to Corona Virus Disease-19 in Peshawar, Pakistan. Pak J Med Sci. 2021;37(1):4-8. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.37.1.3655

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