More men die of COVID-19 than women

As the new coronavirus ( SARSCoV-2) continues to dominate the world, spreading COVID-19, interesting facets emerged about it.

The virus seemed more partial towards men, with a higher rate of men than women being severely ill in China.

A review of data on 37 patients who died in Wuhan, the epicentre of the new coronavirus, published on April 29 in the journal ‘Frontiers in Public Health’ had found that men were 2.4 times more likely to die than women.

Even though both men and women had the same susceptibility to the virus, men were more prone to dying, it had found, a pattern which seemed to be repeating itself in other countries as well.

A look at numbers on May 5 from the state of New York in the United States of America indicated that 60% of the over 19,600 reported deaths had been men.

Experts have stated that there seem to be profound sex differences in immune systems which the pandemic was highlighting. There are key biological differences in the way men and women fight off infections, with women mounting a stronger immune response.

This is while hormones also helped provide women with a more effective defence as important immune cells have estrogen receptors. Meanwhile, differences in behaviour could also be putting men at higher risk for severe COVID-19, there is conjecture. These may include indulgence in health-damaging habits such as smoking and drinking.

In Sri Lanka, of the nine COVID-19 related deaths, seven have been men and two women.

Kawasaki & toxic shock syndrome-like disease in children

A number of children in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Spain, France and Italy are reportedly affected by a "new phenomenon" which doctors are describing as being similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock syndrome.

Kawasaki disease is an illness that causes inflammation ( symptoms include a rash, swollen glands in the neck and dry, cracked lips) in blood vessels throughout the body and often affects children under 5 years old. However, the new phenomenon, called the Multisystem Inflammatory Disorder in Children & Adolescence is said to be also affecting older children up to the age of 16, with a minority experiencing serious complications.

A study published in the medical journal ‘Lancet’ has stated that some of the children suffering from this disorder have tested positive for COVID-19 or antibodies of the virus.