Your chances of having severe Covid-19 might be linked to your blood type, study finds

Why is it that, according to WHO, 80% of the population have mild or no symptoms from Covid-19, while another 15% are so severe they need oxygen, and the last 5% require ventilators? Scientists think it might have to do with genetics, including your blood type.

According to a new study published in medRxiv, people with Type A blood who have Covid-19 are linked with having a 50% higher chance of ending up on oxygen or a ventilator.

From The New York Times:

Variations at two spots in the human genome are associated with an increased risk of respiratory failure in patients with Covid-19, the researchers found. One of these spots includes the gene that determines blood types.

Having Type A blood was linked to a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that a patient would need to get oxygen or to go on a ventilator, according to the new study.

The findings suggest that relatively unexplored factors may be playing a large role in who develops life-threatening Covid-19. The new study is currently going through peer review.

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