Brigham and Women's study finds people with certain blood types more susceptible to COVID

BOSTON - A study from local scientists found that those with certain blood types are more susceptible to COVID-19.

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital found that cells from people with blood type A are more likely to get infected than those of people with type O blood by as much as 25 percent to 50 percent, depending on the variant. In fact, people with type A blood seem especially susceptible to infection with the Omicron variant.

Digging deeper, the team discovered that the novel coronavirus has proteins on its surface that help it attach to cells with proteins from blood type A. In other words, the coronavirus finds type A cells stickier, making it easier for the virus to infect them.

This is not the case for people with type O blood. It's still not clear whether people with type A blood are more likely to get severe disease, but it's possible. And they caution, this doesn't mean that people with type O blood can be more cavalier when it comes to COVID-19.  They're now going to study the effects of type B blood.

In:
• Health
• COVID-19

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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