{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,22]],"date-time":"2026-07-22T22:45:09Z","timestamp":1784760309723,"version":"3.55.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"American Society for Microbiology","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,6]],"date-time":"2025-05-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746489600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,6]],"date-time":"2025-05-06T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1746489600000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.asm.org\/non-commercial-tdm-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.asm.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Microbiol Spectr"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2025,5,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>ABSTRACT<\/jats:title>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title\/>\n            <jats:p>Pandemics from viral outbreaks, such as that caused by SARS-CoV-2, have significant impacts worldwide. The factors that underlie differential susceptibility to severe COVID-19 outcomes are not fully understood. The role of the ABO blood group in the outcome of SARS-CoV-2 infections remains to be clarified in different populations. This study described the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence and examined the association of the ABO blood group with COVID-19 disease among apparently healthy and COVID-19 patients at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra. The study involved 277 participants comprising 200 healthy individuals and 77 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 patients with mild or severe symptoms. Anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody assay (IgM\/IgG) was performed, and ABO blood grouping was done on plasma samples using the reverse blood grouping method. Statistical analyses were performed in R for the association of socio-demographic parameters and ABO blood groupings of participants with SARS-CoV-2 infection status. The total SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity was 61.4% (157\/277). Most of the participants (245\/277, 88.4%) were unvaccinated. Of the 245 unvaccinated individuals, 127 (51.8%) were IgG reactive. A significant association was observed between ABO blood group and COVID-19 disease status. Antigen A participants had a higher probability of symptomatic infection than non-antigen A individuals. Blood group O appeared more protective than other blood types among the participants. Seropositivity was high among the participants studied\u2014vaccinated and unvaccinated. Blood group A is associated with an increased risk of COVID-19, whereas blood group O appears protective. Further studies involving larger sample sizes are required to confirm these findings.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>\n          <jats:sec>\n            <jats:title>IMPORTANCE<\/jats:title>\n            <jats:p>The transmissibility and virulence of SARS-CoV-2 and the severity of COVID-19 disease appeared to vary across nations and among populations. However, the factors that account for the differential susceptibility and COVID-19 outcomes are not well understood. The roles of host immune defense mechanisms and genetic makeup have been implicated. This study investigated the seroprevalence of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgM and IgG) in apparently healthy individuals and COVID-19 patients; using a reliable but inexpensive blood group typing based on direct hemagglutination technique and rigorous statistical analyses, we determined the association of ABO blood groups with COVID-19 disease. We found appreciably high seropositivity among the participants studied\u2014both vaccinated and unvaccinated\u2014and showed that blood type significantly influences SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity, with blood group A associated with severe COVID-19 disease, whereas blood group O appears protective. Further studies involving a larger sample size are required to confirm these findings.<\/jats:p>\n          <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1128\/spectrum.01108-24","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,3,25]],"date-time":"2025-03-25T15:50:49Z","timestamp":1742917849000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1128\/asmj-crossmark-policy-page","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Blood type susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 at a tertiary hospital in Accra, Ghana"],"prefix":"10.1128","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Prince N.","family":"Odoom","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Ghana Medical School","place":["Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Olayinka S.","family":"Okoh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Chemical Sciences, Anchor University","place":["Lagos, Nigeria"]},{"name":"Anchor University Centre for Global Health","place":["Lagos, Nigeria"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaa Y.","family":"Asare","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology","place":["Kumasi, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Clara O.","family":"Mac-Arthur","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana","place":["Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Judith D.","family":"Azumah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Ghana Medical School","place":["Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Albert","family":"Mensah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Ghana Medical School","place":["Accra, Ghana"]},{"name":"Holy Child Catholic Hospital","place":["Sekondi-Takoradi, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Akua K.","family":"Yalley","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana","place":["Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Kwamena W.","family":"Sagoe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Ghana Medical School","place":["Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5012-9564","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Nicholas I.","family":"Nii-Trebi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana","place":["Accra, Ghana"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"235","reference":[{"key":"e_1_3_3_2_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cmi.2020.02.005"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_3_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jare.2020.03.005"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_4_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2807\/1560-7917.ES.2020.25.5.200131e"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_5_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2008-3"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_6_2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41579-020-00459-7"},{"key":"e_1_3_3_7_2","unstructured":"Worldometer. 2023. 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