In addition, no one has looked at large populations to see whether those who are infected with rotavirus are more likely to have a certain blood type, Prasad said. Still, the new study could prompt this type of research, now that scientists are aware there might be a link, Prasad said.

Understanding more about how rotavirus interacts with human cells could lead to the development of drugs against the disease, or to improvements in rotavirus vaccines, Prasad said.

Rotavirus causes gastroenteritis, or inflammation of the stomach and intestines, and is the leading cause of severe diarrhea in infants and young children worldwide, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Until a vaccine against the virus was introduced in 2006, almost all babies were infected with the virus before they turned five years old, the CDC says.

In the study, the researchers found that cells engineered to express A antigen on their surfaces were easily infected by the rotavirus strain, whereas cells without the antigen were not easily infected.