Facts about Blood type and plague susceptibility
- 08
Secretor status, determined by FUT2 gene variants controlling ABO antigen secretion in bodily fluids, influenced susceptibility to plague infection through altered mucosal barrier function in 14th century populations.
- 07
Laboratory studies from 2010 found that Lewis antigen expression, determined by separate FUT genes from ABO loci, correlated with reduced Yersinia pestis adherence to human epithelial cells independent of blood type classification.
- 06
O antigen expression on red blood cells provided 50% greater survival advantage against bubonic plague bacteremia compared to A antigen carriers in 14th century European populations.
- 05
Medieval plague survivors with blood type B showed intermediate susceptibility levels between type A and type O populations, suggesting ABO locus polymorphisms influenced Yersinia pestis pathogenesis across different European regions.
- 04
Rh-negative blood group carriers experienced reduced plague survival advantages compared to Rh-positive populations during medieval epidemics due to differential complement system activation against Yersinia pestis.
- 03
Individuals with Bombay blood group phenotype, lacking H antigen expression, demonstrated altered immune responses to plague bacteremia compared to standard ABO blood group categories during medieval outbreaks.
- 02
In 2017, researchers identified that individuals with blood type A possessed significantly higher susceptibility to Yersinia pestis infection compared to type O populations during medieval plague outbreaks.
- 01
Type O blood individuals showed approximately 50% higher mortality rates during the 1347-1353 Black Death plague across European populations.