Women more likely to survive coronavirus in China, studies find
- But frontline female medical workers also report more symptoms of anxiety and depression, researchers say
- Men suffer more physical effects, accounting for 70 per cent of death toll in one survey
The virus has caused less serious symptoms and lower mortality in women compared to men, according to two research papers by doctors working in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the disease. The papers have yet to be peer reviewed.
In one study of more than 1,000 patients across mainland China, including 37 who died in Wuhan, researchers found that men suffered more severe effects and were more likely to die, accounting for 70 per cent of the death toll, according to a study published on Thursday on medRxiv.org, a preprint server for health sciences.
In particular, the virus was “more likely to affect older males with comorbidities, and can result in severe and even fatal respiratory diseases”, the paper said.
The paper was written by researchers from Wuhan Union Hospital and Beijing Tongren Hospital, who were sent by the central government to Hubei province to help control the epidemic.
An earlier study of 47 patients with coronavirus-induced severe pneumonia found that male patients were more likely to have prior lung disease, develop secondary infections, require complex treatments and experience worse outcomes.
