Prevalent ABO Blood Groups in Alive and Dead COVID-19 Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Background: The rapid spread of the virus around the world is raising alarms among scientists to identify vulnerable people who are at greater risk of infection. In this regard, the present study aimed to determine the prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in different blood groups. Methods: To find relevant studies, a comprehensive and systematic search was conducted based on the PRISMA guidelines in international databases such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Sciences, and Google Scholar by December 31, 2020. Results: After the audit and exclusion of double and unrelated studies, 19 articles were included in the analysis. The most prevalent blood types in alive patients were A and O which calculated the aggregate prevalence at - 39.06 (95% CI: 36.22-41.94) and 35.60 (95% CI: 32.48-38.79). In addition, patients with blood groups B and AB were less than two other groups. The aggregated/estimated prevalence was 7.72 (95% CI: 5.06-10.88) and 16.23 (95% CI: 12.86-19.91) for AB and B, respectively. The results for the deceased had a similar pattern that was high for blood types A and O. Conclusions: The current meta-analysis validated different prevalence rates of blood group types in patients with COVID-19, confirming that types A and O blood groups are the most prevalent types of deaths and live patients.