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The team of researchers says they have discovered two genetic sequences that may show who is at greater risk of getting sick and dying from the coronavirus. Researchers also found a link between blood type and the risk of developing COVID-19.
What determines the course of COVID-19 disease?
In a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers point to a possible explanation for why some people develop severe symptoms of coronavirus infection, while others show no or very mild symptoms.
First, they linked the blood group to the risk of coronavirus infection. They found that people with blood type A have a higher risk of infection and severe symptoms, while people with blood type 0 have the lowest risk.
Our genetic data confirms that blood group 0 is associated with a lower risk of COVID-19 compared to other blood groups. Blood group A was associated with a higher risk of developing the disease
– the scientists wrote in the report.
People with blood type A had 45 percent. higher risk of infection than people with other blood types.
Zobacz: Does blood type affect the risk of coronavirus infection?
Genes are responsible for the risk of severe COVID-19
The researchers, led by Andre Franke, professor of molecular medicine at the University of Kiel in Germany, analyzed more than 1900 files of seriously ill COVID-19 patients in Spain and Italy and compared with 2300 healthy people. They carried out the so-called genome-wide association study searching the genetic map. During the research, they found two genetic sequences that were common in sick patients.
“We detected a new vulnerability locus in the gene cluster of chromosome 3p21.31 and confirmed the potential involvement of the ABO blood group system in COVID-19,” the report wrote. Two places in the genome were associated with the risk of developing respiratory failure.
The genetic sequences found may be related to a person’s immune response and may be responsible for the so-called cytokine storm – an overreaction of the immune system that contributes to increased mortality among COVID-19 patients.
Dr.Roy Silverstein, a haematologist, who is chairman of the medical department at the Medical College of Wisconsin, says the link between blood type and the risk of developing severe COVID-19 symptoms is plausible.
He added that the genes that control the blood group also affect the structures on the surface of cells, which in turn could affect the ability of the virus to infect them. In addition, blood type is associated with the risk of developing blood clots – observations show that severe symptoms of COVID-19 also include the formation of life-threatening blood clots.
However, Silverstein said that for the average person, the discoveries of scientists mean little. Instead, they are useful in the design of drugs or vaccines against COVID-19.
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