Affiliations: Department of Newborn Services, The George Washington
University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA | Department of Pathology, The George Washington
University Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA | Department of Neonatology, The Children's National
Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA
Abstract: An association between infection and an individual's blood group has
been reported in the adult medical literature. This association has so far not
been investigated in the neonate, and may be reflected in the differences in
susceptibilities of neonates to bacterial sepsis. The aim of this study is to
investigate the association between ABO phenotype and the incidence of sepsis
in very low birth weight infants. This is a retrospective data analysis. All
very low birth weight infants admitted to The George Washington University
Medical Center between November 1997 and March 2003 were classified according
to blood groups into group 1: Phenotype O and A [possible B-antibody (ab)]; and
group 2: Phenotype B and AB (without B-ab). Multivariate regression analysis
was performed to determine statistically significant differences in sepsis
between the two groups. Data on 164 infants was analyzed. One hundred and
twenty five infants (76.2%) had blood group A or O and 39 infants (23.8%)
had blood group B or AB. Mean gestational age was 27.6 ± 2.4 weeks and
mean birth weight was 984.5 ± 295 g. Groups were not significantly
different in gestational age, birth weight, gender, and race. After controlling
for confounding variables, there was no difference between the groups in the
incidence of sepsis (34% vs. 33%, P=0.24). ABO blood group phenotype
was not correlated with sepsis in the very low birth weight infants in our unit.
