Association between ABO Blood Group and COVID-19 Pneumonia Severity: A Cross-Sectional Study from Ethiopia's First Designated COVID-19 Treatment Center
- 1Addis Ababa University
Abstract
BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, spreads rapidly and can cause severe acute respiratory failure; advanced age, chronic disease, and other comorbidities increase the risk of severe infection. By early 2022, more than 477 million cases and 6.11 million deaths had been reported globally. This study assessed the association between ABO blood group and severity of COVID-19 pneumonia among patients admitted to Eka Kotebe General Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
MethodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted using systematic random sampling; data were abstracted from patient records, and severity was modeled using ordinal logistic regression, with multicollinearity and the proportional odds assumption checked via the variance inflation factor and test of parallel lines, and model fit assessed by likelihood ratio chi-square and goodness-of-fit tests.
ResultsOf 355 patients included (100% response rate), 54.9% were male and 31.0% were older than 61 years (median age, 48 years; interquartile range, 33-65). Overall, 10.14% were asymptomatic, 24.79% had mild/moderate disease, 60.56% had severe disease, and 4.51% had critical disease. Pregnancy and presence of complications were significantly associated with severity (adjusted odds ratio, 0.15 [95% CI, 0.04-0.57] and 14.96 [95% CI, 4.14-54.01], respectively); ABO blood group showed no association with severity.
ConclusionThese findings demonstrate a substantial association between COVID-19 severity and complications and pregnancy, but not ABO blood group.
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BibTeX
@misc{urgecha2026association,
title = {{Association between ABO Blood Group and COVID-19 Pneumonia Severity: A Cross-Sectional Study from Ethiopia's First Designated COVID-19 Treatment Center}},
author = {E. B. Urgecha and F. A. Tefera and Z. A. Alemu and S. T. Mekonen and E. B. Orgecha and S. N. Gidey and F. A. Fissehatsion},
howpublished = {medRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.64898/2026.09.04.26362275},
url = {https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.04.26362275v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Association between ABO Blood Group and COVID-19 Pneumonia Severity: A Cross-Sectional Study from Ethiopia's First Designated COVID-19 Treatment Center
AU - E. B. Urgecha
AU - F. A. Tefera
AU - Z. A. Alemu
AU - S. T. Mekonen
AU - E. B. Orgecha
AU - S. N. Gidey
AU - F. A. Fissehatsion
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/04
PB - medRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.09.04.26362275
UR - https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.04.26362275v1
AB - BackgroundCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, spreads rapidly and can cause severe acute respiratory failure; advanced age, chronic disease, and other comorbidities increase the risk of severe infection. By early 2022, more than 477 million cases and 6.11 million deaths had been reported globally. This study assessed the association between ABO blood group and severity of COVID-19 pneumonia among patients admitted to Eka Kotebe General Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. MethodsA hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted using systematic random sampling; data were abstracted from patient records, and severity was modeled using ordinal logistic regression, with multicollinearity and the proportional odds assumption checked via the variance inflation factor and test of parallel lines, and model fit assessed by likelihood ratio chi-square and goodness-of-fit tests. ResultsOf 355 patients included (100% response rate), 54.9% were male and 31.0% were older than 61 years (median age, 48 years; interquartile range, 33-65). Overall, 10.14% were asymptomatic, 24.79% had mild/moderate disease, 60.56% had severe disease, and 4.51% had critical disease. Pregnancy and presence of complications were significantly associated with severity (adjusted odds ratio, 0.15 [95% CI, 0.04-0.57] and 14.96 [95% CI, 4.14-54.01], respectively); ABO blood group showed no association with severity. ConclusionThese findings demonstrate a substantial association between COVID-19 severity and complications and pregnancy, but not ABO blood group.
ER -