Opinion | Why do more men die from coronavirus than women?
- The sex bias in Covid-19 deaths is part of a much larger picture of sex differences in genes, chromosomes and hormones
- In Italy and China deaths of men are more than double those of women. In New York City, men constitute about 61 per cent of patients who die
Why? Is it genes, hormones, the immune system – or behaviour – that makes men more susceptible to the disease?
I see it as an interaction of all of these factors and it isn’t unique to the SARS-Cov-2 virus – the different response of men and women is typical of many diseases in many mammals.
The grim figures
In Italy and China deaths of men are more than double those of women. In New York city men constitute about 61 per cent of patients who die. Australia is shaping up to have similar results, though here it’s mostly in the 70-79 and 80-89 age groups.
One major variable in severity of Covid-19 is age. But this can’t explain the sex bias seen globally because the increased male fatality rate is the same in each age group from 30 to 90+. Women also live on average six years longer than men, so there are more elderly women than men in the vulnerable population.
The other major factor is the presence of chronic diseases, particularly heart disease, diabetes and cancer. These are all more common in men than women, which might account for some of the bias.
But then we must ask why men are more vulnerable to the diseases that put them at greater risk of Covid-19.
