CAPE TOWN - A recent study published on
Nature highlights the contributing factors putting men at higher risk of Covid-19 outcomes and suggests a sex-based approach to treatment and care.
As studies throughout the world continue with researchers aiming to learn more about Covid-19, a recent study published in Nature contributes towards the growing evidence distinguishing the difference in clinical outcomes of Covid-19 found in men and women.
Akiko Iwasaki at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut and colleagues examined the differences in viral loads, SARS-CoV-2 antibody counts, plasma cytokines and cell phenotyping to study the immune responses of 98 Covid-19 infected men and women with mild to moderate symptoms.
The study found that male participants immune response to the infection differed from female participants discovering men showing higher levels of cytokines and chemokines in their blood, which is proteins that cause inflammation and women, on the other hand, showed significantly more T-cell activation which is an immune response to fighting off an infection.
The researchers said that patients should not be treated according to age as their study discovered poor T cell response had not correlated with age and rather the sex of the patient with their findings revealing a possible explanation for severe outcomes mostly found in men which could provide for a new development of a sex-based approach to the care and treatment of men and women infected with Covid-19.
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