Blood type and covid susceptibility


It appears that there may be a link between one’s blood type and susceptibility to getting covid.

Blood type doesn’t affect much in our daily lives. In fact, most people don’t even know whether they’re Type A, B, AB, or O. But the seemingly-banal detail might be a factor in who is most susceptible to Covid 19. That link was established pretty early on in the pandemic and scientists didn’t let it go. Additional research has buttressed the possibility of a link.

Where are we now, in 2022, on blood type and Covid? Additional research and review papers have confirmed that we’re in more or less the same place: It looks like there really is an association between Type A blood and susceptibility to Covid and Type O blood and less susceptibility. Yet no research so far has been able to pin down the molecular goings on that explain the mechanism behind why this might be so.

“It’s pretty clear that Type O is protective to some degree. I don’t think that having Type A or Type B is the problem—it’s just that they don’t have Type O,” says Mark Udden, MD, professor of hematology and oncology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

My own blood type turns out to be O+, which puts my mind at ease a bit. But despite that, I still wear an N95 mask whenever I am in an indoor public space and am not sure when I will feel comfortable going without. On my recent trip to Boston, I wore it almost all the time in the planes and in the airport, removing it only to eat or drink. But I noticed very few people wearing masks, probably about 5%, even in a high vaccination state like Massachusetts.

More and more people I know have got covid, though fortunately they were vaccinated and the cases have been mild. Many got it after flying. So I was a little concerned about my two trips to see my grandchildren and their trip to CA, all during the summer. But all those took place without any incident.

Comments

  1. Reginald Selkirk says

    “It’s pretty clear that Type O is protective to some degree. I don’t think that having Type A or Type B is the problem—it’s just that they don’t have Type O,” says Mark Udden, MD, professor of hematology and oncology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.

    This guy passed med school? Type O simply means lack of the Type A and Type B antigens.

  2. John Morales says

    Reginald, you’re confused. The sentiment expressed is clear to me.

    That you are (supposedly) criticising and correcting professor of hematology should be a clue that perhaps you misinterpreted the quotation.

    (I myself am O-)

  3. Reginald Selkirk says

    @3: John Morales: you previously criticized my statement on Einstein. After I delivered the goods you never admitted you were wrong nor apologized. link.
    And now you come up with:
    1) You’re wrong, but I can’t be bothered to explain why.
    2) Credentialism
    3) Personal details which are entirely irrelevant.

    I am not impressed with you.

  4. Holms says

    #1 Reg
    He did, so I suspect he was just glossing over that detail to make his point to a public that doesn’t necessarily know about it.

  5. John Morales says

    [meta]

    Reginald:

    After I delivered the goods you never admitted you were wrong nor apologized

    Why should I have? No reason for it.

    I was perfectly correct: that’s indeed what you think, and your curated set of snippets is clearly convincing to you.

    I am not impressed with you.

    A revelatory confession. There, there, it’ll be alright!

    Thing is, your retort is not at all responsive to the substantive content of my comment, but then, I’d previously criticized your statement on Einstein, so that’s that.

    (I’ve had people try to beat me at the ego game before. Have fun!)

  6. rockwhisperer says

    I am B pos, but the practice of masking always outside my house or car has simply become habit. I refuse to eat in a restaurant, I won’t go into any crowded space, and so forth. I’m 62. This might be permanent, and I’ve sort of accepted it. I’d love to take more in-person writing classes, but I’m reluctant to be in the same room with other people for a long period of time, masks or not. The evil Facebook is my friend, and my own muse invariably interrupts my rumination to remind me I didn’t finish writing the current chapter, and to get writing.

    A good friend returned just returned from DragonCon (a sci-fi convention) with COVID. She is also fierce about masking, but others aren’t, and that many people gathered together for 9 or 10 days is simply a recipe for trouble. So I deliver groceries to her door, and she reports she’s recovering swiftly. So far. She’s fully vaccinated and boosted. Still.

  7. Acolyte of Sagan says

    *slight derail; my apologies*

    John Morales: in a previous thread you linked to a WashPo article regarding the links between the American Christian Evangelicals and Israel (https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/14/half-of-evangelicals-support-israel-because-they-believe-it-is-important-for-fulfilling-end-times-prophecy/).
    They were a little late to the party.
    For an in-depth look at the issue I highly recommend Allies for Armageddon: The Rise of Christian Zionism by Victoria Clark (Yale University Press, 2007).
    The author’s research included multiple interviews with the leaders and main players of the Evangelical movement, attending top-tier Evangelical conferences and joining their tours to Israel.
    It’s a detailed, informative and, quite frankly terrifying look at the millions of Evangelicals whose support for Israel is based firmly on a literal reading of the Bible, particularly the Book of Revelations, and their desire to make Armageddon a reality. They don’t support the Jews as much as exploit them as they believe that the Jews must rule over the entire area of Old Testament Israel before Jesus puts in his second coming, but once they’ve played their part they become as expendable as every other non-Evangelical Christian on Earth.
    The Evangelicals have, and continue to throw millions of dollars at this twisted cause and actively support the idea of Israel and America starting the final war with nuclear strikes throughout the Middle-East.
    Yes, they’re lunatics, but they’re lunatics with solid links to high-ranking government figures both at home and in Israel.

    *end of derail*

  8. John Morales says

    [OT]

    Indeed, Acolyte. Quite so.

    Being lazy, I just did a search and picked a suitable result; may have taken me all of five seconds at most. Anyone interested or sceptical could then follow up for themselves.

  9. Katydid says

    Sarah F-ing Palin went to Israel on one of those Evangelical tours of Israel when she thought she might make her grift from politics. She also made a big show of cozying up to Graham and naming her dog-of-the-moment a Hebrew name.

  10. Matt G says

    I had to get a PCR test ahead of my hip surgery this summer, and took an 80-minute (round trip) drive to the hospital with my spouse to do it. She hadn’t been feeling well for a few days, tested negative when we got back from the hospital, but positive six hours later (home test). I’ve had a few known exposures but have never tested positive (and as a teacher tested frequently) and have had just a single mild cold since February 2020 (which probably wasn’t covid). I’m A+ and probably either pretty lucky or have something else protective.

  11. Tethys says

    I am not surprised that blood type correlates to disease resistance. AFAICT, heavy selection via diseases like measles and the bubonic plague are the reason humans evolved different blood types.

    In fact, most people don’t even know whether they’re Type A, B, AB, or O.

    Is this true? I have known my blood type ever since we had to stab our fingers and type our blood way back in high school. I’m B+, but after reading through the various genetic possibilities it looks like I could have inherited some O or A traits while expressing the B.
    (CisAB).

    [meta@John]

    You were not ‘perfectly correct’, and it’s manners, not ego, which you consistently ignore as inconsequential. You are wrong. You aren’t infallible, and nitpicking at everyone else’s supposed errors without acknowledging you misunderstood their comment, is merely being a troll.

  12. John Morales says

    Tethys, presumably well-meaning:

    You were not ‘perfectly correct’

    You think I was not ‘perfectly correct’.

    (Am I wrong to think you think I was not ‘perfectly correct’? 🙂 )

  13. Tethys says

    @ John

    You are nitpicking for no apparent reason other than your egotistical belief that you are a paragon of perfectly correct thought.

    FYI, Reginald was not at all confused and did not require, (or appreciate) your correction. It was a casual comment, not a thesis on blood type.

  14. John Morales says

    Tethys:

    You are nitpicking for no apparent reason other than your egotistical belief that you are a paragon of perfectly correct thought.

    Quite the diagnosis!

    FYI, Reginald was not at all confused and did not require, (or appreciate) your correction.

    I, however, do require your correction, in your estimation. Evidently so.

    (How’s it working for you?)

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