Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Aug;60(4):103169.
doi: 10.1016/j.transci.2021.103169. Epub 2021 May 21.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the susceptibility of ABO blood group to COVID-19 infection

Saeed M Kabrah  1 , Ahmed M Kabrah  2 , Arwa F Flemban  3 , Samer Abuzerr  4
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the susceptibility of ABO blood group to COVID-19 infection

Saeed M Kabrah et al. Transfus Apher Sci. 2021 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Numerous studies investigate the association between the ABO blood groups and the occurrence of COVID-19 infection; discordant findings were reported. Therefore, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to evaluate the existing evidence on the susceptibility of the ABO blood group to COVID-19 infection.

Methods: Systematically searched published articles in PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and EMBASE between 1 st January 2020 and 21 st March 2021. After quality control and the exclusion of irrelevant studies, 16 studies were included in the final analysis.

Results: Although the random-effect meta-analysis revealed a large heterogeneity among studies, I 2 = 99.197 %. The pooled event rates and (95 % CIs) for A, O, B, and AB blood group were 0.459 (95 %CI: 0.358-0.441), 0.342 (95 %CI: 0.298-0.374), 0.180 (95 %CI: 0.150-0.214), and 0.076 (95 %CI: 0.055-0.127), respectively. These results indicated that the COVID-19 infection rate was higher in persons with blood group A > O > B > AB. Overall, the ABO blood group's vulnerability to COVID-19 infection was statistically significant (pooled p -value<0.001).

Conclusion: This meta-analysis offers a further indication of blood group A individuals' vulnerability to COVID-19 infection, and blood type AB are linked to a lower risk of COVID-19 infection.

Keywords: ABO blood group system; COVID-19; Infection; Susceptibility; Systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest concerning the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The PRISMA flowchart of study identification and study selection process.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Forest plot from the random-effects analysis: ABO Blood group susceptibility to COVID-19 infection.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Publication bias of the infection of ABO blood group for COVID-19.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Wang D., Hu B., Hu C., Zhu F., Liu X., Zhang J., et al. Clinical characteristics of 138 hospitalized patients with 2019 novel coronavirus–infected pneumonia in Wuhan, China. JAMA. 2020;323(11):1061–1069. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cucinotta D., Vanelli M. WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Acta Bio Medica: Atenei Parmensis. 2020;91(1):157. - PMC - PubMed
    1. W.H. Organization . Vol. 182. 2020. (Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): situation report).
    1. Worldmeter . 2020. COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. Last updated: November 30, 2020, 20:25 GMT.
    1. Ye Q., Wang B., Mao J. Cytokine storm in COVID-19 and treatment. J Infect. 2020 - PMC - PubMed

Substances