Coronavirus Updates – The Covid-19 fatality rate among men has been higher than among women, as per data analysis by Global Health 50/50 along with CNN. In Italy, which is the new epicentre of Covid-19, according to figures released by its National Health Institute (the Istituto Superiore di Sanità or ISS), men constituted 60% of the Covid-19 positive cases and over 70% of the fatalities. Analysis in China and South Korea, too, has shown a similar trend.
The US has not revealed sex-disaggregated data about Coronavirus.
Read – “Hantavirus” A New Type of Virus from China has started killing
There is still no conclusive scientific study why this is the case, but that men tend to smoke more and that Covid-19 is more damaging to those with underlying health issues could be a reason.
Note: No one is immune to the new corona-virus, but the damage it causes is severe on the elderly and those with an underlying health issue.
In China, for instance, which has the world’s largest smoking population, more than 50% of the men smoke, compared to less than 3% women;
Read – Coronavirus : How to quarantine yourself at home?
In Italy, 7 million men smoke as against 4.5 million women. In fact in Italy, the ISS said that 99% of the people who succumbed to Covid-19 had another illness, with 75% suffering from high BP, which is more prevalent among men. More men travelling for work or more men than women getting tested could be other reasons too.
While the Global Health 50/50’s analysis is not comprehensive — covering just 25% of the world population — it said:
“In every country with sex-disaggregated data… there is between a 10% and 90% higher rate of mortality amongst people diagnosed with Covid if they are men compared to if they are women.” In India too, which has seen 10 deaths so far, only 1 of them has been a woman.
Previous corona-virus outbreaks, such as SARS and MERS, too, had shown a similar trend. According to a study on MERS-Cov infection that emerged in Saudi Arabia, a possible reason for the higher fatalities among men is that “females are more likely to adopt hygienic measures and health-seeking behaviours, as observed during past influenza pandemics, such as that of H1N1.”
The study said that the lower fatality rate among women could also be because many of them wear face veils in Saudi Arabia.
Input by TOI
