Your Blood Group Determines Whether You Will be Attacked by Ticks

Type A blood group people are more at risk of being bitten by a tick, including the ones that cause Lyme disease, found researchers.

Ticks are blood-sucking parasites, often found in woodlands, carrying a host of bacteria.

Lyme Disease - Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Treatment, Prevention
Lyme disease is acquired through the bite of a tick that is infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi.

‘People with type A blood group are walking targets of potentially fatal Lyme disease.’

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In the study, researchers from the Masaryk University in Czech Republic, dropped a tiny sample of blood from types A, B, AB and O onto a sterile layer of filter paper on a Petri dish in the lab.

An Ixodes ricinus tick or a "sheep tick", was placed in the dish and scientists tracked its movements for two minutes.

The results revealed that the ticks preferred type A blood 36 per cent of the time, while 15 per cent of the parasites gravitated towards blood type B, the Daily Mail reported.

Blood Group Diet
What is right diet for you may be the wrong one for another. The diet that suits you will depend on your blood type. This diet is called the blood group diet.

"The study demonstrated that blood group might be one of the factors determining the feeding preferences of Ixodes ricinus ticks," lead researcher Alena Zakovska, from the varsity, was quoted as saying.

"The information obtained about the potential preference of ticks for specific blood groups can be used to reduce the risk of tick bite," she added.

Bombay Blood Group
Bombay blood group is a rare blood type in which the people have an H antigen deficiency. They can receive or donate blood only with other individuals with the same blood group.

Further studies are needed to confirm the link and establish why ticks may prefer certain blood types, the researchers warned in the journal Annals of Agricultural and Environmental Medicine.

Ticks are generally oval, flat and small -- the size of a sesame seed when unfed. Once engorged with blood, they can grow to the size and shape of a coffee bean.

Test Your Knowledge on Blood Groups
Blood group of a person is determined by the presence of certain proteins (antigens) on the surface of the red cell. Knowing your blood group and Rh type is very important. Take this quiz and test your knowledge on blood groups.

They look for hosts to cling to, often by climbing to the top of a long blade of grass and waiting.

It's thought that 17 per cent of ticks are infected with a bacteria -- borrelia bacterium -- that can potentially cause Lyme disease, characterized by fever, headache and a ring-shaped rash that resembles a bullishness.

Source-IANS