https://medicalxpress.com/news/2020-02-coronavirus-men-older-people-hardest.htmlSample quote
Men have died from coronavirus at nearly twice the rate as women, and the virus has been shown to sicken and kill older folks at a greater rate than young people, according to data from China.
The coronavirus death rate among men in China stands at 2.8%, compared with 1.7% among women, according to a report last week from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
About 80% of people who have died from the virus in China were over 60 years of age, China's National Health Commission has reported. Studies in The Lancet found an average age of 55 among Chinese citizens who've developed pneumonia as a result of coronavirus infection.
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For example, men in China smoke at a much higher rate than women, research has shown. More than half of Chinese men smoke, compared with around 3% of women.
It turns out smoking activates a receptor used by the coronavirus to infect human cells, ACE-2, Poland said.
"That is the speculation behind why we are seeing such an unreasonably high severe case and fatality rate inside China," Poland noted.
If this is so, then gender differences in coronavirus illness and death might not be as striking in the United States, where around 15% of men smoke compared with 12% of women.
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More info
http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/02/study-72000-covid-19-patients-finds-23-death-rateSample quote
Of the confirmed cases, 1,023 patients—all in critical condition—died from the virus, which results in a CFR (case-fatality rate ) of 2.3%.
The CFR jumped considerably among older patients, to 14.8% in patients 80 and older, and 8.0% in patients ages 70 to 79.
Among the critically ill, the CFR was 49.0%.
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Young people under age 19 are showing a very low death rate of 0.1% or so.
These young people may show little or no symptoms,
and may be therefore key to spreading the virus.
As with serious flu, it might greatly help to close schools, like Japan already has.
