Researchers found that women mounted a more robust immune response involving T lymphocytes, which are a type of white blood cell that can recognize viruses and eliminate them.
This was the case even among older women, the study found.
In contrast, older men had weaker T cell activity—the older they were, the weaker the response.
Overall men also produced more cytokines, which are inflammatory proteins that form another part of the body's natural immune defence. ...snip... According to the authors, this could imply that men and women need different treatments.
For men, for example "we should be enhancing their T cell responses with vaccines" Iwasaki said, while women could be given treatment to dampen the cytokine response.
