Data: More men die of COVID-19 than women

An infectious disease expert says factors like men having more underlying health conditions than women are reasons why there is a disparity between male and female fatality rates with COVID-19.

BERKELEY, Calif. - New questions are emerging as the coronavirus continues to take livesand data in multiple parts of the worldshow that men withCOVID-19 have a higher fatality rate than women.

Inthe San Francisco Bay Area, SantaClaraCountyreported 1,224 confirmed cases Monday with a gender breakdown of52% menand48% women.The gender of those who died from COVID-19, however, show67%of the deathsin the countyare men.

A preliminary study fromChinaalso shows more malethan femalepatients dying fromCOVID-19and aWorld Health Organization Chartfor Italyand Spainhas a higher rate of death for men fromCOVID-19.

"There are several factors that contribute to this gender difference," saidDr. Lee Riley, a University of California atBerkeley professorand head of the division of Infectious Disease and Vaccinology at the school of Public Health.

Behavior could be one big factor, with men tending to smoke and drink alcohol more than women.

"That can contribute to different type of cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular diseases themselves are also associated with bad outcomes in coronavirus infection," Riley said.

Santa Clara County statistics for 2014 show the ratio of smoking rates for men and women in the county are similar to the coronavirus fatality ratio.

Riley saidstudies show men also tend to wait longer than women to visit doctors.

"So by the time they get to a doctor, they may have more severe disease," said Dr. Riley.

Riley said there is researchthat indicates genetics might give women's immune systems an advantage,with twoX chromosomes.

"In the X chromosome there are a couple genes that are involved in the immune response whereas the males there's only one," he said.

Researchers sayCOVID-19 is not the only respiratory disease that shows a gender difference.

"The SARS epidemic we saw 17 years ago, again, there was a male predominance in deaths," Riley said."Tuberculosis is another major respiratory infectious disease and we see a ratio of 70 to 30, the disease being much more common in males."

Riley said as researchers look for vaccines and cures, it is important to collect and analyze data for genderand alsoanalyzedifferences in race and ethnicity.

"This particular coronavirus infection is greater among African Americans and people of ethnic minority backgrounds so those type of data are very important," Riley said.

InIllinois, health officials sayAfricanAmericans account for 30%of all coronavirus casesand inChicago,nearly 70%of the deaths are amongAfricanAmericans.MayorLoriLightfoot says the numbers highlight a longstanding disparity in health care access that needs to be addressed.Many of the victims haveother underlying health conditions.

Lousiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced that about 70% of the deaths in his state are African Americans and mentioned that hypertension was one of the factors in the deaths.

On Monday, theLawyersCommittee forCivilRightsUnder Law sent a letter toHealth and Human Services SecretaryAlex Azar.The letter calls forthe government to releasemore datato the public on the race and ethnicityof people with COVID-19.

Jana Katsuyama is a reporter forKTVU. Email Jana atjana.katsuyama@foxtv.comand follow her on Twitter@JanaKTVU

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Data: More men die of COVID-19 than women - KTVU San Francisco

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