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Association Between ABO-RHD Blood Groups and COVID-19: A Preliminary Study of 76 Cases

Introduction: Blood types are most often incriminated in susceptibility to COVID-19. Blood group O subjects are reportedly less susceptible to COVID-19. However, these reports are mainly from countries with high infection rates. The overall objective of this study was to investigate the association between the risk of COVID-19 infection, its severity, and ABO-RHD blood groups at the Training Hospitals of Bouake and Cocody (Ivory Coast). Material and methods: This was a prospective study that lasted four months. All patients with COVID-19 at the time of the study and followed at the Training Hospitals of Bouake and Cocody, hospitalized in the COVID-19 centers or in home confinement, were included. T lymphocyte subpopulations were counted on the BD FACS Calibur flow cytometer after labeling. ABO and RHD blood typing was performed in all patients. Results: Of the 76 patients collected, 78.9% were homebound, 18.4% in hospital and 2.6% in the ICU. The mean age was 41.92 ± 15.13 years with a male predominance. The majority of hospitalized patients were significantly of blood group A (p=0.020). CD4 and CD8 T lymphopenia were significantly more frequent in patients with blood group A than in those with blood groups B, AB and O. Conclusion: The impact of blood group on the severity of the disease would exist. Our study showed that blood group A subjects were more likely to have COVID-19. In addition, a statistically significant association between blood type A and CD4 and CD8 T lymphopenia was found. These results should be confirmed by studies based on larger patient samples.

Lymphopenia, CD4, CD8, COVID-19, ABO-RHD Blood Groups

Adou Adjoumanvoule Honore, Siransy Kouabla Liliane, Memel Lasme Roselle Charline, Yeboah Oppong Richard, Goran-Kouacou Amah Patricia, et al. (2023). Association Between ABO-RHD Blood Groups and COVID-19: A Preliminary Study of 76 Cases. International Journal of Immunology, 11(1), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.iji.20231101.11

Copyright © 2023 Authors retain the copyright of this article.
This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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