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People with Blood Group ‘A’ are susceptible to COVID-19—Scientists reveal

People with Blood Group ‘A’ are susceptible to COVID-19—Scientists reveal

Research scientists in Europe and Asia have found that people with blood group “A” are more susceptible to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and warned them to be extra careful.

According to them, the genetic variant identified in a genome study revealed that those with blood group A have higher risk to the respiratory ailment.

They indicated that genetic analysis of COVID-19 patients suggests that blood type might influence the risk factor and  severity one could develop to the disease.

Scientists who compared the genes of thousands of patients in Europe found that those who had blood type A  were more likely to have severe disease while those with Type O were less likely.

The study, involving scientists in Italy, Spain, Denmark, Germany and other countries, compared about 2,000 patients with severe COVID-19 to several thousand other people who were healthy or who had only mild or no symptoms.

Researchers tied variations in six genes to the likelihood of severe disease, including some that could have a role in how vulnerable people are to the virus. They also tied blood groups to possible risk.

A blood specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Dr Parameswar Hari noted that the study which was first done in China and now Europe was vital to help guide further research into the pathophysiology of COVID-19 and aid the clinical risk profiling of patients.

However, to Dr Eric Topol, Head of Scripps Research Translational Institute in San Diego the evidence of a role for blood type is “tentative … it is not enough of a signal to be sure.”

The quick spread of COVID-19 since its outbreak in Wuhan, China, late last year, has rapidly become a pandemic health emergency that has now infected more than 6.39 million people worldwide and killed almost 400,000.

Europe, Italy and Spain have been among the most severely affected countries, with the epidemics peaking during the second half of February, more than 60,000 fatal cases being reported by May 28.

Most people infected with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19 only experience mild or even no symptoms.

In the case of Ghana, the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo confirmed that most patients show mild or no symptoms at all.

Mortality rates, he observed were mainly driven by patients with underlying health conditions and those who are more susceptible to respiratory failure after becoming ill with pneumonia or respiratory distress syndrome.

Currently Ghana has recorded 274 new cases increasing the total positive case to 13, 203 with 70 death, 4,548 recoveries and 8,585 active cases.

BY JOYCELINE NATALLY CUDJOE

Joyceline Natally Cudjoe

An Entertainment Columnist, Content Writer, Blogger, Novelist, Poet, and a Publicist. For business or story tip off, contact me on +233 24 646 6866 or email: [email protected]

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