This Blood Group Is Least Likely To Get Affected By COVID-19

A study was recently conducted by the genetic testing company known as 23andMe. The study involved 750,000 people and it has determined that people with the blood type O are 20% less likely to catch the COVID-19 as opposed to those with other types of blood. 

People with type O blood were between 9 and 18% less likely to test positive for the coronavirus. People with blood Type O who had been exposed to the COVID-19 were between 13% and 26% less likely to contract the virus. 

The team of researchers at 23andME concluded that there must exist a link between the ABO gene that determines the blood type of a person and the COVID-19 virus. That brings us to the question of which blood type are you and how many types of blood there actually are?

There are four primary blood types; A, B, AB, and O. The surface of the red blood cells has a substance that is known as antigens and any person can have A-antigens, B-antigens, both or neither. If a person has A antigen, their blood type is said to be Type A. If they have the B antigen, their blood type becomes Type B. The blood type is Type AB if they have both antigens and Type O if they have no antigens. Furthermore, there’s a protein that is present on the red blood cells known as the Rhesus (Rh) factor. 

The person’s blood type is deemed Rh-positive if they have Rh protein on their red blood cells and Rh-negative if they do not have it on their red blood cells. This leads to a total of eight possible blood types. The blood type chart below shows the percentage of Americans with each blood type;

• O positive – 37.4%
• O negative 6.6%
• A positive 35.7%
• A negative 6.3%
• B positive 8.5%
• B negative 1.5%
• AB positive 3.4%
• AB negative 0.6%

You can find out your blood type by the following four ways;

1. Call your doctor
2. Donate blood
3. Use an at-home kit
4. Use a telemedicine service