Severe COVID-19 linked to age, body mass index and ABO blood group

With the COVID-19 pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infecting over 50 million people worldwide with hundreds of thousands experiencing severe respiratory illness, researchers have been trying to find the factors associated with severe disease. From the start of the pandemic in March this year, several studies have indicated heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, etc. could be linked to severe disease.

Now German researchers have published a study on the association between severe respiratory infection caused by SARS CoV-2 and factors such as age, body mass index (BMI) and ABO blood group. Their study titled, "Severity of Respiratory Infections due to SARS-CoV-2 in Working Population: Age and Body Mass Index Outweigh ABO Blood Group," was released prior to peer review on the preprint site medRxiv*.

Background
There is a rise in cases of COVID-19, and there is a lack of consensus regarding the high-risk factors for severe disease course.

The authors of the study write that with the rising number of cases, Germany reintroduced lockdown measures to reduce the risk of spread of the infection. The main question is to identify those at greater risk, such as the elderly, and protect them from the infection. While the elderly are identified to be at risk, the risk among the working population is not yet defined.

The stem cell registry
As part of the DKMS gemeinnützige GmbH (DKMS), a major stem cell donor registry, tens of millions of volunteers report their general health conditions and medical details. The volunteers were adults aged below 61 years, wrote the researchers.
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