Scientists at the University of Capetan in South Africa have found that men infected with coronavirus are three times more likely to need intensive care than women and have an increased risk of death. This was reported in an article published in the journal Nature Communications.
Researchers analyzed over three million confirmed cases of coronavirus from 46 countries and 44 U.S. states between January 1 and June 1, 2020. They found that the risk of contracting SARS-Cov-2 was the same for women and men, as “exactly half” of the confirmed cases were in male patients. However, men were 39 percent more likely to die from COVID-19.
One of the risk factors, researchers call the sex differences of the innate and adaptive immune systems. Women produce more type I interferon proteins, which limit the abnormal immune response known as cytokine storms and which play a key role in severe complications. The hormone estradiol also helps fight the virus, as it increases the response of T-lymphocytes to kill infected cells and increases the production of antibodies.
However, it is possible that other diseases that are more common in men, such as hypertension and diabetes, increase the risk of death.