70% COVID infection found among men; fatality rate high among men than women

State cases 1,85,444, Active 33,933, Discharged 1,50,773, Death 735

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Are women stronger than men in fighting off the novel coronavirus? Official data so far available in Assam has found that men account for 70 percent of the total COVID-19 infections. Less than 30 percent infections have been found among women. The fatality rate among men is also very high than women.

Assam has so far recorded over 1.80 lakh COVID-positive cases. Altogether 732 persons have died due to the infection in Assam till Friday.

A doctor at Gauhati Medical College & Hospital (GMCH) associated with treatment of COVID-infected persons, told The Sentinel that over 80 percent of critical patients at the ICUs (Intensive Care Units) in the hospital are men. He added that women constitute less than 20 percent of the critical patients.

"The majority of critical COVID-infected women patients are the elderly (above 75 years of age) ones. A very less number of young women infected by the virus has turned critical. Interestingly,the recovery rate among the critical elderly women patients is also very encouraging.Jibini Devi Baid (93) and Anima Boro (80) recently recovered from COVID from the GMCH and the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital," said the doctor.

A doctor at the Apollo International Hospital in the city told this reporter that studies have found men's immune response to COVID-19 infection differs from that of women. Such a difference has resulted in more severe virus infection among men, he added.

Quoting a study conducted by a team of US researchers led by Akiko Iwasaki from the Yale University School of Medicine, the doctor said that men had higher levels of inflammation-causing proteins called cytokines and chemokines in their blood while women had a stronger T cells response.

"T cells —a part of the body's longer-lasting immune response — seek and destroy infected cells to stop virus from replicating inside the body. Cytokines are proteins that regulate the immune response in men. But infection worsens in men with weak T-cell responses," the doctor said.

According to doctors, behavioural and lifestyle differences also make men more vulnerable to COVID-related deaths. In Assam,the majority of those having comorbid conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetics, heart and kidney ailments and cancer are men.

"Studies have found that almost 60 percent of the total male population in the State drink alcohol and smoke. Smoking not only causes cancer but also weakens lung functioning. Weak lung functioning is the prime cause of oxygen-saturation among the COVID-infected patients which often leads to deaths. All such factors make men more vulnerable to COVID-19 infection and deaths," a doctor at the DrB.Borooah Cancer Institute said.

Also Watch: Assam DIG (retd) who owns 8kg gold, 5 hotels, 5 flats, 2 tea estates, 1500 bighas of land