Why blood type A can increase the risk of COVID-19

TORONTO, Ontario – SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, can bind to the airway cells of people with type A blood more easily than any other blood group, according to a new study.

The study, conducted in the laboratory by American researchers, found that the coronavirus is particularly attracted to the blood group A antigen found in respiratory cells.

The new research also showed that the virus “has no preference” for respiratory cells or red blood cells in blood types B and O.

The findings were published Wednesday in the scientific journal Blood Advances.

Several studies in the past year have suggested that certain blood types may be more vulnerable to COVID-19. However, the researchers behind this latest study say they are the first to suggest a possible explanation as to why those with type A blood are slightly more likely to contract the virus.

“Our observation is not the only mechanism responsible for what we are seeing clinically, but it may explain part of the blood type’s influence on COVID-19 infection,” the team of researchers said in a press release.

According to the laboratory study, the researchers focused on a protein on the surface of the SARS-CoV-2 virus known as the receptor-binding domain (RBD), which is the part of the virus that binds to host cells and infects a people .

The researchers looked at how this protein interacts with respiratory and red blood cells in blood types A, B and O.

The results showed that the RBD protein had a “strong preference” for binding to the type A blood molecules or antigens that lined the respiratory tract, including the lungs.

According to the study, the RBD protein is not prone to group A red blood cells, or other blood groups found in the airways or red blood cells.

The researchers say that this does not mean that people with blood types B and O are immune to the virus, but suggest that type A individuals are more likely to become infected.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Sean Stowell of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said the RBD’s preference for “recognizing and binding” to the blood type A antigen found in the lungs of people with type A blood can provide information about the potential link between this group and coronavirus infection.

“It is interesting that viral RBD really prefers only the type of blood group A antigens that are in the respiratory cells, which are presumably how the virus is entering most patients and infecting them,” said Stowell in the statement.