Research Highlights: Males Infected with COVID-19 Virus Face Higher Chances of Both Intensive Therapy Unit Admission and Death
Original Article: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19741-6
- COVID-19 is an on-going worldwide pandemic.
- COVID-19 is caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2.
- In this pandemic, reports about males being vulnerable to severe disease have been circulating.
- Regardless of the reports, there are few studies addressing whether this is global or regional phenomenon.
- Researchers have limited data that indicate whether the male bias is due to an increased proportion of male infections, or a true representation of more severe disease.
- The study highlights that sex remains an insignificant variable when dealing outcomes in infectious disease.
- Researchers collected available case data from 90 reports which includes 46 countries and 44 U.S. states.
- The total infected cases collected is more than 3 million.
- Researchers demonstrate that there is no difference in the proportion of males and females infected with COVID-19 virus.
- However, males face higher chances of both intensive therapy unit admission and death compared to females.
- The confirmation of this sex disparity using global data suggests an important implications for the continuing public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Source:
Peckham, H., de Gruijter, N.M., Raine, C. et al. Male sex identified by global COVID-19 meta-analysis as a risk factor for death and ITU admission. Nat Commun 11, 6317 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19741-6
Related External Links:
COVID-19: Transmission, prevention, and potential therapeutic opportunities
