Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Men may be more prone to coronavirus than women, Chinese study finds

Men may be more prone to coronavirus than women, Chinese study finds

Researchers also say early diagnosis is important, as illness can lead to complications and organ failure. They studied the cases of nearly 100 patients treated at a hospital in Wuhan, where the outbreak started

Men appear to be more susceptible than women to the new coronavirus that emerged in central China last month, according to a study of 99 patients treated in Wuhan, where the outbreak began.

The study – published in The Lancet on Wednesday – was carried out by a team of doctors at Wuhan’s Jinyintan Hospital, which has handled a number of coronavirus patients, along with researchers from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Ruijin Hospital in Shanghai.

The finding was in line with earlier observations that men with underlying health problems were more prone to the virus, but the latest study was based on a bigger sample size.

It also warned that early identification and treatment of the pneumonia-like illness was important, since many patients went on to suffer complications and organ failure.

The virus has killed 170 people and sickened more than 7,800 in China so far, with dozens more cases confirmed elsewhere, including in the United States, Japan, Thailand and Germany.



The researchers based the study on 99 patients – 67 men and 32 women – admitted to the Wuhan hospital from January 1 to 20. It found that almost half of them were infected in clusters, though Chinese health authorities only confirmed that cases were being transmitted between humans on January 21.

“We observed a greater number of men than women in the 99 cases of 2019-nCoV infection. Mers-CoV and Sars-CoV have also been found to infect more males than females,” the study said, referring to Middle East respiratory syndrome and severe acute respiratory syndrome, which are also coronaviruses.

“The reduced susceptibility of females to viral infections could be attributed to the protection from X chromosome and sex hormones, which play an important role in innate and adaptive immunity,” it said.

Half of the patients also had other chronic diseases such as heart problems or diabetes, the researchers said.

They said the mortality rate of the 99 cases was 11 per cent. That compares to an earlier study by doctors from the same hospital and other Chinese scientists based on 41 patients, which put the mortality rate at 15 per cent.

The latest study found that 49 per cent of the patients were infected in clusters and were exposed to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, which is believed to be the source of the outbreak. Most of them were vendors and cleaners at the market, and two were shoppers. But the study did not identify how the other patients were infected.



One-third of the patients in the study developed complications and organ failure. Some 17 per cent developed acute respiratory distress syndrome, a serious lung condition, while 8 per cent experienced an acute lung injury and 3 per cent had kidney failure or damage.

Based on these findings, the researchers said early diagnosis and treatment of the coronavirus was crucial.

They said more cases needed to be studied to provide a more complete picture of the disease, as it did not include undiagnosed patients. The South China Morning Post has reported that many patients with flu and respiratory symptoms had been turned away by hospitals in Wuhan because of a shortage of beds.



A separate study of nine coronavirus patients published in The Lancet on Wednesday found that one of them had not been to the seafood market at all, but had stayed in a hotel nearby from December 23 to 27. The others all worked at the market. It did not say whether that indicated a community outbreak had already begun at that time.

The study was carried out by a team of Chinese scientists, most from China’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

They found that the nine samples were almost identical – meaning the coronavirus strain had only recently emerged, since this type of virus mutates over time. They said the coronavirus was more similar to a strain found in bats in Zhoushan, Zhejiang province than to Sars and Mers. But it was still not known how it was spread between bats and humans.

“It is therefore striking that the sequences of 2019-nCoV from different patients described here were almost identical, with greater than 99.9 per cent sequence identity,” the study said.

“This finding suggests that 2019-nCoV originated from one source within a very short period and was detected relatively rapidly.”

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×