More women get COVID-19, but more men die from it and it has nothing to do with lifestyle differences
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Data shows more women have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, yet men are more likely to die from it.
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These statistics apply not only to Indiana but the U.S. as a whole. Scientists have yet to understand why, but now they are one step closer to an answer.
Scientists from Yale University found males recruit more of a certain type of an immune cell, but are unable to regulate it when infected with the virus compared to females. The cell is called kynurenic acid, or KA for short. The increase in KA results in a less effective defense against COVID-19.
The study, published in the latest volume of Science Signaling, revealed the higher the amount of KA, the higher the COVID-19-related cytokine inflammatory response. This leads to a cascade effect, sickening male patients and resulting in worse outcomes and increased death rates.
News 8 spoke with Dr. Christopher Doehring, vice president of medical affairs at Franciscan Health, to weigh in on the study.
“This study is obviously one attempt to try to explain at a very molecular level what might be going on with the immune system and what the immune response is,” Doehring said. “Is there something different in men versus women that can help explain these differences in outcomes? I think it’s an interesting study.”
In a statement obtained by News 8, authors say: “We know that men are at higher risk for contracting severe cases of COVID-19 and that sex differences in the body’s immune response present a compelling explanation…providing major clues about how this disease infects and sickens individuals.”
Authors go on to say this knowledge will be useful in “creating more effective treatments for this terrible disease.”
According to the Indiana State Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 data report, 53% of women have contracted COVID-19 compared to 46% of men.