Coronavirus Update: Here's Why More Men Are Dying From COVID-19

Researchers and health experts suggested that smoking, drinking, and general poor health might be some factors that could possibly explain why the rate of men who died due to novel coronavirus is higher than women.

Here are some quick facts about the gender bias of COVID-19:

• In China, where the outbreak began, death rates for men are almost 50% higher than for women.
• In Italy, men account for about 60% of those who tested positive for the COVID-19.
• Over 70% of those who died from the coronavirus infection in Italy were men.
• In South Korea, even though more women than men have tested positive for the virus, the mortality rates among men were as high as 54%.
• CNN conducted an analysis, in collaboration with Global Health 50/50, which is a research institute examining gender equality in global health. The findings revealed that, across those countries for which data was available, men were 50% more likely to die from COVID-19 compared to women.

"From Italy, we're seeing another concerning trend. That the mortality in males seems to be twice in every age group of females," CNN quoted Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House's coronavirus response coordinator. “Just having the knowledge of that helps us in the United States so we can be very specific in talking to the American people about who to protect and how to protect them," he added.

The finding that men are more vulnerable to the disease highlights what public health experts have been warning, theorizing that it is not only biological but gendered behaviors also. It is important to note that how men and women conduct their lives might play a vital role in their mortality rates for respiratory illnesses such as the COVID-19.

So, why are men more likely to die from COVID-19?

• Men are more likely to smoke and tend to damage their health in multiple ways, making them more susceptible to a fatal case of coronavirus. In China, 52% of men smoke compared to only 3% of women.
• Men in china also have a higher rate of hypertension, type 2 diabetes and Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared to women. These underlying health conditions can increase the risk of complications and death from COVID-19.
• One study found that men might be waiting to seek care and might be likely than women to visit the hospitals with the disease at a more advanced stage.
• Women possess a heightened immune response compared to men.
• The higher level of estrogen that plays a role in immunity might help women fight the virus better.
• Also, women have two X chromosome, which carries immunity-related genes.

"We make these broad sweeping assumptions that men and women are the same behaviorally, in terms of comorbidities, biology and our immune system, and we just are not,” Advisory board quoted Akiko Iwasaki, a professor of immunology at Yale University.