Individuals with “A” Rh-positive but not Rh-negative blood group are more vulnerable to SARS-COV-2 infection: Demographics and trend study on COVID-19 cases in Sudan

Taha, Safa Abdallah H.; Osman, Makarim Elfadil M.; Abdoelkarim, Esameldeen Ahmed A.; Ibrahim Holie, Mohamed A.; Elbasheir, Mohamed M.; Abuzeid, Nadir Musa K.; Al-Thobaiti, Saed A.; Fadul, Sharief B.; Konozy, Emadeldin Hassan E.

COVID-19 is an infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). In Sudan, several hematological studies were conducted to study the ABO blood group distribution among the population, in which the "O" blood group was dominating followed by the "A" blood group. However, there is no systematic study that has been done to correlate between COVID-19 infection and the population’s blood group types, therefore we have intended to study the possible effect of blood group on the acquisition of COVID-19 infection. A questionnaire-based case-control study was carried out on 557 COVID-19 patients in Sudan, factors such as age, blood group, previous malaria infection, back history ailments such as diabetes, hypertension, and symptoms suffered were also considered and analyzed. The number of infected females was more than males, whereas the age between 25 to 35 years was the most affected age group. O Rh-positive (O+) blood group was the least affected by the disease while “A” Rh-negative (A-) individuals were the most venerable. Symptoms like fatigue, fever, and loss of smelling sensation were the major ones among the patients. Whereas 13% of SARS-COV-2 positive individuals remained asymptomatic. Since the Sudan population is largely constituted of “O” Rh-positive inhabitants (approx. 50%) these results might explain the relatively lower COVID-19 incidence in the country.