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Disinfo: People with blood type A are more affected by coronavirus

Summary

The assumption made earlier was confirmed. People with the second blood group (A) are affected by the coronavirus most of all.

Disproof

Unconfirmed claim about the coronavirus, part of the pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign around the pandemic.

Only one study, which has not been peer-reviewed, has found any evidence of this claim - researchers studying COVID-19 in Wuhan and the city of Shenzhen found the proportion of blood type A patients both infected and killed by the disease was “significantly” higher. However, the authors cautioned that these preliminary findings should not be used to guide clinical practice and came with several caveats. First, the study is a draft of a research paper that has not yet been peer-reviewed or published in any journal. Second, the study is limited in both sample size and geographic scope. Speaking to the South China Morning Post, Gao Yingdai, a Tianjin-based researcher not involved in the study, said that while a 2,000-person sample is not necessarily small, it is dwarfed by the number of cases globally.

While evidence does support the hypothesis that COVID-19 — or other infections — can affect people differently depending on their blood type, such a conclusion about COVID-19 cannot be made conclusively on the basis of a single study that has yet to be peer-reviewed or published in a journal.

Read further debunking by Snopes. For other disinformation cases about the coronavirus, see here.

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publication/media

Rossia 24 - YouTube [from 51:28 to 51:35] (Archived)
  • Reported in: Issue 199
  • DATE OF PUBLICATION: 15/05/2020
  • Language/target audience: Russian
  • Country: Russia
  • Keywords: coronavirus, health

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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Disproof

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