ABO-RH blood group and risk of covid-19 in a moroccan population

  1. Mourad Belaouni
  2. Elhoucine Malki
  3. Rabii El Bahraouy
  4. Bouchra El Maliki
  5. Mohammed Er-Rami
  6. Houcine Louzi
  7. Khalid Lahmadi

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Abstract

Introduction

Given the rapid spread, significant morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19, there has been scientific interest in obtaining data detailing the factors influencing the risk of COVID-19 infection. The aim of this study was to reveal a possible association between the ABO-RH system and the risk of COVID-19 in the Moroccan population.

Materials and methods

This is an analytical cross-sectional study. It was carried out on 1094 patients for the diagnosis of Covid-19 by Rt-PCR at the Moulay Ismaïl military hospital in the province of Meknes. All Rt-PCR negative individuals were used as a comparison group.

Results

Among the 1094 individuals who were diagnosed, RT-PCR for detection of SARS-CoV-2 was positive for 242 individuals. Comparison of the proportions of blood groups of the two groups showed that the proportion of blood group A in patients with COVID-19 was significantly higher than in people in the comparison group (P = 0.007), while the proportion of blood group O in patients with COVID-19 was significantly lower than in people in the control group (P = 0.017). Comparison of the Rh blood groups of the two groups did not find a significant association (P = 0.608).

Conclusion

As demonstrated by several previous studies, we concluded that blood group A was associated with a higher risk of acquiring COVID-19. Equally, the O blood group was associated with a lower risk of infection.

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  1. ScreenIT

    SciScore for 10.1101/2020.12.02.20242180: (What is this?)

    Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.

    Table 1: Rigor

    Institutional Review Board Statementnot detected.
    Randomizationnot detected.
    Blindingnot detected.
    Power Analysisnot detected.
    Sex as a biological variableThis is an analytical cross-sectional study involving male military people sharing the same workplaces, for the diagnosis of COVID-19 at the Moulay Ismail Military Hospital, in the province of Meknes, Morocco.

    Table 2: Resources

    Antibodies
    SentencesResources
    Testing for anti-Sars-Cov 2 antibodies was used to detect old infection (Rt-PCR negative), and in conjunction with epidemiological and clinical data for interpretation of questionable results.
    anti-Sars-Cov 2
    suggested: (GenWay Biotech Inc. Cat# GWB-2A8325, RRID:AB_10308561)
    Software and Algorithms
    SentencesResources
    The detection of SARS-CoV-2 in nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal samples was performed by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using the GeneFinder COVID-19 PLUS Real Amp Kit (OSANG Healthcare Co, Ltd., Korea) according to the manufacturer’s instructions, on the CFX96 real-time amplification system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA).
    GeneFinder
    suggested: (GENEFINDER, RRID:SCR_009190)

    Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).

    Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:
    This study had certain limitations which could lead to some bias in the results. First, the study population consisted exclusively of relatively young males. And second, the lack of other data (weight, underlying pathologies, smoking, etc.) which are predisposing factors to the risk of infection with SARS-Cov-2.

    Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.

    Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.

    Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.

    Results from rtransparent:
    • Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
    • No protocol registration statement was detected.

    About SciScore

    SciScore is an automated tool that is designed to assist expert reviewers by finding and presenting formulaic information scattered throughout a paper in a standard, easy to digest format. SciScore checks for the presence and correctness of RRIDs (research resource identifiers), and for rigor criteria such as sex and investigator blinding. For details on the theoretical underpinning of rigor criteria and the tools shown here, including references cited, please follow this link.

  2. Version published to 10.1101/2020.12.02.20242180v1 on medRxiv