ABO Blood Groups and Malaria Prevalence in a Referral Hospital in Nigeria

A cross-sectional randomized study was carried out to evaluate the relationship between malaria prevalence and ABO blood groups in a referral hospital in Rivers State, Nigeria. Venous blood samples were collected from all consenting study participants, films (thick and thin) were made from each blood sample, stained with 10% Giemsa stains and viewed microscopically with oil immersion objective to detect Plasmodium species using standard parasitological techniques. Agglutination technique using monoclonal Antisera A, B and D was used to determine the ABO blood groups. Data generated were statistically analyzed using Chi-square test and significance level was set at P<0.05. An overall malaria prevalence of 43.1% was observed among study participants. Blood groups A and O had higher malaria prevalence of 61.1% and 42.6% respectively while blood groups B and AB had lower prevalence of 28.0% and 0% respectively (P<0.05). Malaria parasite density levels >1000 parasites/µL in relation to ABO blood groups showed a higher prevalence of 46.7% and 22.7% in blood groups A and B respectively while lower prevalence of 0% and 15.7% occurred in blood groups AB and O respectively (P<0.05). The findings of this study showed that individuals with blood group O were susceptible to contracting uncomplicated malaria but had a higher resistance to developing severe malaria compared to non – O blood groups (A and B). More detailed molecular researches are needed to fully establish the relationship between malaria parasitaemia and ABO blood groups, therefore malaria interventions and control strategies should be directed equally among individuals irrespective of their blood groups.