Recent studies claimed that blood types can either help block COVID-19 or increase the risk of getting the disease and its complications. The findings provided hope to many people but health experts warned it may be too early to put our guards down.

Majority of those studies found that people with Type O blood are less likely to catch the novel coronavirus, while those with Type A are more vulnerable. Experts fear that the findings would give people a false sense of security and encourage them to stop following common safety measures, such as wearing masks and social distancing.

In one study in Europe, researchers found that Type A blood increases risk of severe COVID-19 cases by 45 percent. They said people with this blood type are more likely to require oxygen support or a ventilator because of the disease.

Meanwhile, the Type O blood group appeared with 35 percent lower risk. The study analyzed the blood and conditions of 1,610 patients with severe COVID-19 and 2,205 healthy participants.

Other studies in China and New York also provided the same findings in favor of people with Type O blood. However, the possible influence of blood type on COVID-19 appears small compared with other risk factors, such as age and underlying health condition, according to Aaron Glatt, chair of medicine and chief of infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau in New York.

People with Type O blood "certainly shouldn't walk around high-fiving and saying, I can do whatever I want, I don't have to mask, I don't have to worry about anything because I have O," Glatt, who is also a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said. "And they shouldn't crawl into a corner of the world and not let anyone near them because they have A. Everybody should practice exactly the same way, whatever your blood type is, in terms of appropriate masking and social distancing."

The studies also did not suggest that Type O people are completely safe from the serious complications of COVID-19. Researchers said they can still get very sick because of the coronavirus infection.

"They have a decreased risk to get infected and to develop severe disease," Andre Franke, author of the European study and professor of molecular medicine at the University of Kiel in Germany, told NBC News. "However, this is only a relative risk reduction, i.e. there is no full protection. Among our patients who died there were also many with blood group O."

A researcher collects blood samples in an unknown laboratory. Pixabay

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Blood Type And Coronavirus Risk: What You Need To Know - Medical Daily