ABO Blood Group and Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19 Admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU): A Retrospective Study in a Tertiary-Level Hospital in Bangladesh

Mohammad Rabiul Halim; Shuvajit Saha; Injamam Ull Haque; Sadia Jesmin; Rahatul Jannat Nishat; A S M D Ashraful Islam; Seema Roy; Miah Md Akiful Haque; Md Motiul Islam; Tarikul Hamid; Kazi Nuruddin Ahmed; Md Azharul Islam Talukder; Arif Ahmed; Emran Hasan; Nurjahan Ananna; Faroque Md Mohsin; Mohammad Delwer Hossain Hawlader

doi:10.2147/JMDH.S330958

ABO Blood Group and Outcomes in Patients with COVID-19 Admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU): A Retrospective Study in a Tertiary-Level Hospital in Bangladesh

J Multidiscip Healthc. 2021 Sep 2:14:2429-2436. doi: 10.2147/JMDH.S330958. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Mohammad Rabiul Halim^#¹, Shuvajit Saha^#², Injamam Ull Haque¹, Sadia Jesmin¹, Rahatul Jannat Nishat³, A S M D Ashraful Islam², Seema Roy⁴, Miah Md Akiful Haque⁵, Md Motiul Islam¹, Tarikul Hamid¹, Kazi Nuruddin Ahmed¹, Md Azharul Islam Talukder¹, Arif Ahmed¹, Emran Hasan², Nurjahan Ananna¹, Faroque Md Mohsin⁶, Mohammad Delwer Hossain Hawlader⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Critical Care Medicine, Central Police Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
² Department of Maternal and Child Health, Projahnmo Research Foundation, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
³ Department of Physiology, Sir Salimullah Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁴ Department of Medicine, Popular Medical College, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Epidemiology, Public Health Professional Development Initiative (PPDI), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁶ Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
⁷ Department of Public Health, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: The world is heavily suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic for more than a year, with over 191 million confirmed cases and more than 4.1 million deaths to date. Previous studies have explored several risk factors for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), but there is still a lack of association with ABO blood type. This study aimed to find out the relationship between the ABO blood group and COVID-19 outcomes in Bangladesh.

Subjects and methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a tertiary-level COVID-dedicated hospital in Dhaka city, Bangladesh, between April 2020 and November 2020. Records from 771 critically ill patients were extracted who were confirmed for COVID-19 by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay, and blood grouping records were available in the health records.

Results: The blood groups were 37.35%, 17.38%, 26.46%, and 18.81% for A, B, AB, and O type, respectively. Clinical symptoms were significantly more common in patients with blood type A (p < 0.05). Patients with blood type A had higher WBC counts and peak serum ferritin levels and both were statistically significant (p < 0.001). Patients with blood type A had a greater need for supplemental oxygen, and they were more likely to die in comparison to the patients with other blood types (p < 0.05). In multivariable analysis, our primary outcome death was significantly associated with blood type A (AOR: 3.49, 95% CI: 1.57-7.73) while adjusting for age, male gender, and non-communicable diseases.

Conclusion: Based on this study results, it can be concluded that the COVID-19 patients with blood type A have a higher chance of death and other complications. The authors recommend blood grouping before treating the COVID-19 patients, and healthcare workers should prioritize treating the patients based on that result.

Keywords: ABO blood group; Bangladesh; COVID-19; ICU.