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MEN are more likely to catch coronavirus because they may have a weaker immune response, experts fear.

Scientists found men made up 68 per cent of patients with the deadly illness at Wuhan University hospital last month.

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The figures from a Lancet paper are based on the details of the 99 coronavirus patients admitted to the hospital in January.

They also revealed that the average age of patients was 55.5 years, including 67 men and 32 women.

Science writer Anjana Ahuja, in her column for the Financial Times, said: It is an eye-catching discrepancy.

A picture is emerging of 2019-nCoV [now COVID-19] as a novel pathogen that disproportionately affects older men, particularly those with existing illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.

She said possible reasons for the differences between men and women could be smoking, a variation of hospital treatment and hormonal differences which could impact males immune system response.

Women are prone to autoimmune diseases, which causes parts of their immune system to become stronger to compensate, resulting in a possible stronger response to the coronavirus.

Also, females routinely outlive men by six to eight years and are more likely to reach their first birthday, according to the World Health Organization.

Stanley Perlman, an immunologist at the University of Iowa and his colleagues suggested that hormones, including Oestrogen, could be a possible defence against the virus.

Prof Perlman studied how SARS a sister disease of the new coronavirus called Covid-19 impacts male and female mice.

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What to do if you're worried you've got coronavirus

BRITISH health chiefs have raised the coronavirus risk to the public from low to moderate.

Health professionals are working to contact anyone who has been in close contact with people who have coronavirus.

The majority of those who have been infected with the virus so far have either visited China or been in close contact with someone who has.

But if you are concerned known the signs is one of the best ways to protect yourself from 2019-nCoV.

Symptoms usually include:

In most cases, you won't know whether you have a coronavirus or a different cold-causing virus.

But if a coronavirus infection spreads to the lower respiratory tract, it can cause pneumonia, especially in older people, people with heart disease or people with weakened immune systems.

It is incredibly contagious and is spread through contact with anything the virus is on as well as infected breath, coughs or sneezes.

The best way to prevent catching any form of coronavirus is to practice good hygiene.

If you have cold-like symptoms, you can help protect others by staying home when you are sick and avoiding contact with others.

You should also cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough and sneeze then throw it away and wash your hands.

Cleaning and disinfecting objects and surfaces which you may have touched is also important.

If you have returned from Wuhan in the last 14 days:

If you are in Northern Ireland, call your GP.

Please follow this advice even if you do not have symptoms of the virus.

Meanwhile, leading symptom-checking provider to the NHS Doctorlink has been updated to help identify patients' risk of having coronavirus.

Source: NHS

He concluded that male mice were affected in greater number, while adding that his study was consistent across coronaviruses as well.

Two studies on SARS and MERS patients found that males had a higher death rate for both diseases.

One study showed that out of 1,800 SARS patients men had a nine per cent higher date rate.

Some scientists are now convinced that these sex differences in clinical data reflect a genuine male vulnerability to coronavirus

A 2019 study of 229 Mers patients showed found that males had a six per cent higher death rate over females.

Anjana said:Some scientists are now convinced that these sex differences in clinical data reflect a genuine male vulnerability to coronavirus, rather than a bias in exposure.

The observations add to growing evidence that immunologically speaking, men are the weaker sex.

Thekiller bughas now claimed at least 1,367 lives and infected more than 60,000 people worldwide since the outbreak began two months ago.

Nine people have been confirmed as having the bug in the UK, while 14 people have tested positive in the US.

It comes as a new diagnostic method has led the Chinese province at the epicentre of a coronavirus outbreak to report a record rise in deaths and thousands more cases today.

The central province of Hubei had previously only allowed infections to be confirmed by RNA tests, which can take days to process.

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RNA, or ribonucleic acid, carries genetic information that enables identification of organisms such as viruses.

But it has begun using quicker computerised tomography (CT) scans, which reveal lung infections, to confirm virus cases, health officials said.

Meanwhile, top officials in Hubei province - where the outbreak began in the capital city of Wuhan - were replaced.

Former Shanghai mayor Ying Yong is to replace Jiang Chaoliang as party chief in central Hubei, while two other senior officials have been removed.

Continued here:
Coronavirus Men more likely to catch deadly bug thanks to weaker immune systems, experts fear - The Sun

This entry was posted on February 18, 2020 at 5:52 pm and is filed under Immune System. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed. |