According to around 40 studies, people with an O blood group have a low risk of contracting the coronavirus virus.
Regarding the coronavirus, various hypotheses on its transmission or not have been in force for 1 year. And international research has focused on the relationship between blood groups and Covid-19 infections. A Spanish study, relayed by the France Info site on February 11, 2021, on 6,000 patients has shown that people in the O + group seem better protected against the virus. In France, the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) and the University of Nantes explained, in January 2021, in the journal Viruses "There is a general consensus that O groups have a lower risk of the disease than others, between 10 and 33% lower risk."
What is the explanation?
The antibodies made by people in group O would be the key to these results. "Natural anti-A and anti-B antibodies may be partially protective against SARS-CoV-2 virions carrying blood group antigens from non-O individuals", evokes the analysis of Inserm. Second explanation, the O team is less subject to thrombosis and vascular dysfunction than non-O individuals. This blood group could therefore be less exposed in the event of severe pulmonary dysfunction. Based on these major findings, specialists can better understand the pace of the epidemic in different populations. When a blood group is the majority in a country, this can explain the magnitude of the number of patients. In France, 42% of inhabitants are part of group O, 44% of group A, 10% of group B and 4% of group AB, according to the Etablissement Français du Sang.
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Health guidelines should not be forgotten
These data should not make people forget that even if the risks are mitigated, the barrier gestures must always be respected. There is no immunity for people in group O. They can still be infected, and develop severe forms of the disease. For now, researchers are still working on "this biological mechanism to find evidence of what they are seeing in the epidemic numbers", recalls France Info.