Why Are Men Twice As Likely To Die From Coronavirus As Women?

Why Are Men Twice As Likely To Die From Coronavirus As Women?
Why Are Men Twice As Likely To Die From Coronavirus As Women?

Video: Why Are Men Twice As Likely To Die From Coronavirus As Women?

Video: Why Are Men Twice As Likely To Die From Coronavirus As Women?
Video: COVID-19 Deaths Double In Past 2 Weeks, Averaging 900 A Day 2024, March
Anonim

We recently wrote that in countries where the white-skinned population prevails, African Americans, Asians and Hispanics are at risk for coronavirus.

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But the point is not at all that the coronavirus chooses its victims based on ethnicity - at least there is no evidence of this.

But, like any other disease, coronavirus infection "takes into account" economic and social inequality, access of different segments of the population to quality food, medical services and other benefits. And from this point of view, the "selectivity" of the coronavirus was quite understandable.

What about the frightening statistic that men die from coronavirus twice as often as women? And they get sick, respectively, too. For example, in the United States, there are 140 cases of the disease for every 100,000 women, and 228 cases for every 100,000 men, writes the New York Times. The same picture is observed in the countries of Europe, Asia and Russia.

The chief epidemiologist of the Russian Ministry of Health Nikolai Briko also said that men get sick and die from coronavirus almost twice as often as women. Why is this happening?

Female immunity copes better with the virus

In the same interview, Nikolai Briko explained that the immune response of women to various pathogens, not only to coronavirus, is stronger than that of men. There is also evidence that women are less susceptible to pneumonia and better tolerate vaccinations.

Philip Goulder, professor of immunology at the University of Oxford, agrees with this opinion. He believes that the more aggressive immune response of the female body to the coronavirus is due to the fact that women have two X chromosomes, and men have one.

“The protein that helps our body perceive viruses such as the coronavirus is encoded on the X chromosome. Therefore, in women, it is produced in a double dose, which enhances the immune response, - said the professor in an interview with the BBC.

Men are more prone to bad habits

Another reason lies in the different lifestyle of men and women, which affects both immunity and the development of chronic diseases. One of the most pernicious habits that increases the chances of being at risk for coronavirus, since it has a detrimental effect on the lungs and cardiovascular system, is smoking. And here men are "in the lead" by a wide margin.

According to VTsIOM, among men, the percentage of active smokers, that is, those who smoke every day, is 60%. Among women - 21%. In China, this gap is even more significant: 50% of men and only 5% of women smoke there.

There are other statistics, according to which men are more careless about their health, less likely to go to the doctor and more often assess their health as excellent, even if in fact it is not.

Finally, men are 38% more likely to suffer from gastrointestinal diseases, which also increases their chances of being at risk for coronavirus, because the likelihood of infection potentially depends on the condition of the mucous membranes - including the stomach and intestines.

Women are more affected by the pandemic than men

However, experts agree that things are not so rosy for women either, since in the long term they will suffer more from the coronavirus pandemic than men.

Michelle Tertilt, an economist at the University of Mannheim, believes women have suffered far more economically.

The reason is that the current crisis, caused by the widespread self-isolation regime, the closure of borders and businesses, is unlike any other. Usually, in times of economic downturn, men suffer more than women, because they are more often employed in industries that are directly dependent on economic cycles: construction and manufacturing.

Women, on the other hand, are more likely to work in spheres that are more independent of the global economic situation: healthcare and education. But this time, it was among women that unemployment rose by 0.9%, and among men - by 0.7%. And all because the factors affecting employment have changed.

Now the first criterion is whether you are a “critical” worker for society. Michelle Tertilt defines this category as health workers, law enforcement, transportation, agriculture, forestry, fishing, maintenance and repair. And among them there are much more men than women.

At the same time, women were predominantly employed in the retail, beauty, restaurant and tourism industries, which are now completely closed.

Women were also hit by the closure of kindergartens and schools. Single mothers all over the world complain that they have no one to leave their children with and they cannot go to work, and telecommuting with a child in their arms greatly affects efficiency.

Women suffer more from domestic violence

Another "side effect" of the coronavirus pandemic was the increase in cases of domestic violence in families in isolation.

According to NGOs, since April 10, the number of victims of violence and cases of domestic violence has increased by 2.5 times, said Tatyana Moskalkova, Ombudsman for Human Rights in the Russian Federation, in an interview with RIA Novosti. The same trend is observed in other countries of the world.

“It's no secret that domestic violence usually occurs within the walls of the home. On top of that, you close people at home during an extremely stressful period when they have no job, no money, no confidence in the future,”explains Claire Wenham, assistant professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

However, the more acute is the problem of domestic violence, the victims of which in the overwhelming majority of cases are women, the more they talk about it publicly, which in the long term can change the situation for the better.

For example, TV presenter Regina Todorenko, who was recently accused of victim blaming (accusing a victim) and misogyny (misogyny), made an entire documentary about domestic violence.

The article uses materials from nytimes.com, bbc.com

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