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COVID-19: the male-female disparity
By Nana Dadzie Ghansah
One very noticeable thing about COVID-19 is the disparity in mortality between men and women. First noticed by the Chinese, it seems to be playing out in other countries too.
According to a meta-analysis by Mohammad Javad Nasiri from the University of Miami and his group, even though both sexes are infected at close rates, men have three times the risk from dying versus women. In Italy for instance, close to 75% of all those who have died from COVID-19 are men.
The CDC has yet to release detailed data on the gender make-up of COVID-19 fatalities in the US but as of Friday, April 3, 2020, men made up 59 percent of overall hospitalizations in New York City and 62 percent of more than 1,800 fatalities.
This phenomenon was also noticed with SARS and MERS. During the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, nearly 22% of infected men died, compared to around 13% of women. With MERS around 32% of men died versus 26% of women.
Various reasons have been given for this disparity, some social, others biological. Men smoke and drink more, making them more susceptible to diseases of the lungs and heart. They also do not wash…
