Kaedrea Jackson has noticed something peculiar during her shifts inside the emergency department at Mount Sinai Morningside hospital…“It seems there are more men coming in with really severe illness,” said Jackson, an emergency physician. “In general, I’ve seen more male patients. And when they do come in, they are at a sicker state.”
Coronavirus data reported by more than a dozen states and the nation’s largest city support Jackson’s experience. In most states, slightly more women are getting infected than men. But of more than 3,600 deaths in 13 states and New York City that report fatalities by gender, the majority of victims are men.
The disproportionate toll of the virus appears to have deep biological roots. An emerging body of research has revealed that women’s bodies are better at fighting off infection, thanks to the hormones in their systems and the genes on their two X chromosomes.
Scientists say these differences may partly explain why men have been hit hardest by the covid-19 pandemic. And they may provide a vital clue in the search for a cure.
RTFA for more detail. Some of which just adds more variables, obscuring a conclusion. Some is useful – in my mind’s eye, anyway.
My first reaction flows strictly from evolution. Women are mothers, the final resource of our species. I would hope that nature succeeds at keeping us around, healthy, in secure numbers. Even if we seem to be spending much of recent history trying to wipe ourselves out.
