By Analou De Vera
The Department of Health (DOH) said that it is still gathering information on a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showing that blood type may be a risk factor in contracting coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"Mula nung lumabas ito sa mga artikulo at saka mga experiences from other countries, atin na pong kinakalap ang mga impormasyon tungkol dito ," said DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire.
(REUTERS / MANILA BULLETIN)
The Health official was reacting to the recent study of European researchers that people with blood type A may have a high risk of contracting the dreaded disease and develop its severe form, while those with blood type O have lower risk.
The study was led by Dr. Andre Franke from Christian-Albrecht-University in Kiel, Germany.
“We will be providing more information to the public ukol dito once we have adequate numbers na masasabi natin na significant nga itong sinasabi nila na mas prone ang ganitong blood type sa ganitong sakit ,” said Vergeire.
“Kapag may mga ganitong mga reports amin pong kinakalap muna ang maraming ebidensya bago namin masabi na kung ito talaga ay totoo o hindi ,” she added.
If proven, Vergeire said that there is a possibility to revise the DOH guidelines on who should be prioritized for COVID-19 testing.
“Kung saka sakali na magkaaroon ng ebidensya na itong sinasabi na blood type sa kung sino yung mas high risk for getting COVID ay mapapatunayan, maaring maisama rin natin ito sa ating expanded protocols for testing ,” she said.