Relationship between Malaria and ABO Blood Types in East China

OBJECTIVES: This study aims at investigating the relationship between malaria and blood group types in east China. METHODS: Between 1 January 2011 and 31 March 2017, 99 malaria patients were enrolled for the study. Laboratory tests were conducted on their infection status and blood types. Clinical data of the participants were retrieved for analysis. RESULTS: There was no mortality during the period of study. Overall, 90 (90.91%) of the patients were positive for Plasmodium falciparum, 8 (8.08%) were infected with Plasmodium vivax, and only 1 (1.01%) was infected with Plasmodium malariae. The most common blood group among the participants was group O (38.38%) followed by blood groups A, B, and AB, with 32.32%, 22.22%, and 7.07% cases, respectively. There was no significant relationship between the prevalence of malaria and ABO blood types (P > 0.05). In the blood group O, the prevalence of haemolytic-uremic syndrome and cerebral malaria was 13.16% and 5.25%, respectively, which was lower than that of the other three blood types (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: There was no mortality among the malaria patients in this study. The blood group O was the most common blood type. Due to small sample size of data, there was no significant association between ABO blood types and malaria infection.