The coronavirus is "gender biased," researchers found in their corona study.
They even see the male gender as a risk factor for Covid 19 disease.
Men
seem to be more seriously ill with
Covid-19
than
women
- but is that the case worldwide?
Is the
coronavirus
*
"Gender biased"?
Researchers wanted to find out.
The result of the
Corona study
leads the authors to an important call for research.
Men are
more likely to get seriously ill with
Covid-19
than women.
This is not a new finding for the time being, it has been known since spring that men
suffer
worse from the
coronavirus
and more often have
severe Covid 19 disease
courses.
But does
gender
really have an influence on the course of the disease?
A team of researchers led by Kate Webb (University of Cape Town) and Claire Deakin (University College London)
analyzed
a total of 90
corona
studies from around the world in order to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.
The meta-study was published in the journal "Nature".
Coronavirus: Men are more likely to have severe Covid 19 disease courses
The researchers analyzed 3,111,714
corona cases
from around the world - for example, to find out whether
men
are more likely to be
infected
with the
corona
virus and, for this reason, have more severe courses.
The result: There is no gender difference in the
corona infection
- men and women are
infected
with about the same frequency.
However, the probability of being
transferred to
the
intensive care unit
with a
severe course of Covid-19 disease is
almost three times (2.84) higher
for
men
than for
women
, the study shows.
The probability of
dying
from or with
Covid-19
is therefore higher for men than for women.
According to the study, men are 1.39 times more likely to die than women.
Coronavirus: Mers and Sars "preferred" men too
Earlier
coronavirus
outbreaks had a similar tendency, write the study authors.
When the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) * broke out in Hong Kong in 2002/2003,
men were
1.62 times more likely to die.
When Sars outbreak in Singapore was the likelihood that a
man
will be moved to the intensive care unit had or died, 3.1 times higher than among
women
.
In the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (Mers) outbreak in Saudi Arabia (2013/2014), 52 percent of infected men died, but only 23 percent of infected women.
Both diseases - just like
Covid-19
- are
triggered
by
coronaviruses
.
Coronavirus: Gender should receive more attention in research
"These data suggest that fundamental differences in the immune response of
men
and
women are
probably a driving factor behind the significant
gender biases of
the
Covid-19 pandemic
," the researchers write in their study and continue: "Sexual differences in the immune system could be responsible for the female advantage in
Covid-19
, as studies have already shown. "
Although the authors emphasize that further studies on the subject of
corona
and
gender are
necessary, the data published in their study have "implications for the clinical treatment of
Covid-19
".
The data showed that it is important to
include
gender
as a variable in further basic research and clinical research on the
coronavirus
, according to the researchers, who see the male gender as a risk factor for Covid 19 patients.
(Tanja Banner)
* fr.de is part of the nationwide Ippen-Digital central editorial team.