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Scientists launched studies in search of genes that could explain why some people infected with SARS-CoV-2 get really sick, while others have only mild symptoms.
We know that chronic health conditions—such as hypertension and diabetes can play a role, but there are also evidences that people’s genes can influence how their bodies react to other viruses.
On June 2, researchers reported a genome-wide association study (GWAS) including samples from 1,610 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 and 2,205 healthy controls (read Medrxiv Article).
Respiratory failure is a key feature of severe Covid-19 and a critical driver of mortality, but for reasons poorly defined affects less than 10% of SARS-CoV-2 infected patients.
The ABO blood group locus and a blood-group-specific analysis showed higher risk for A-positive individuals and a protective effect for blood group O. They found that people with blood type A were at a higher risk for respiratory failure, while blood group O seemed to be protective. The odds for those with blood type A to be hospitalized with severe respiratory symptoms were nearly 1.5 times the odds for people with other blood types. And those with type O had about two-thirds the odds of being hospitalized as those with other blood types.
This is the first robust association of genetic susceptibility loci for the development of respiratory failure in Covid-19.
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