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Blood type and COVID-19 risk not linked, Intermountain Healthcare researchers find

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Posted at 5:44 AM, Apr 15, 2021
and last updated 2021-04-15 12:31:25-04

MURRAY, Utah — A person's blood type does not affect the risk of contracting COVID-19 or developing severe disease, according to a new study by researchers at Intermountain Healthcare.

The study examined the outcomes of more than 100,000 people who were tested for the coronavirus.

Researchers identified 107,956 people who had been tested via nasal swab or saliva samples and who also had their blood types listed in their electronic health records.

They found no relationship between blood types and positive test results, hospitalizations or ICU care needed for COVID-19.

"Instead, they found that susceptibility and severity were related to sex (higher risk in men) and race (higher risk in non-white patients), and older age predicted an increased need for hospitalization or ICU care," a news release from Intermountain Healthcare states.

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Earlier in the pandemic, studies in Canada and Denmark appeared to show a link between blood type and COVID-19 susceptibility.

"However, after studying the blood types of nearly 108,000 patients tested for COVID-19, Intermountain Healthcare researchers found that none of blood types A, B, AB or O had any effect on the susceptibility to the virus or the course of disease," the news release says.

Intermountain Healthcare's research has been published in the Journal of American Medical Association.

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Further details on the researchers' findings are expected to be released during a news conference Thursday morning.

Watch FOX 13 for updates.