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- A study says that men are more prone to be severely affected by the coronavirus because of the testes.
- Observations in the United Kingdom and India have shown more male COVID-19 patients than females.
The testicles may give the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a sanctuary from the immune system.
This may allow the infection to persist longer in males, a study says.
When the COVID-19 enters the body, it binds with cells expressing the ACE2 protein or angiotensin-converting enzyme 2. These cells are found in the lungs, heart, and intestines.
Dr. Aditi Shastri, an oncologist at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx, and her mother, Dr. Jayanthi Shastri, a microbiologist at the Kasturba Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Mumbai, said the virus attaches itself to a protein that occurs in high levels in the testicles.
In men, large quantities of the protein are also found in the testes while only a very small amount is found in the ovarian tissue.
“These observations demonstrate that male subjects have delayed viral clearance,” the authors wrote.
This proves that COVID-19 is more likely to severely affect men than women. In the United Kingdom alone, male deaths are almost twice the amount of female deaths due to the virus. This is according to the Office for National Statistics.
Men had a mortality rate of 1,728.2 per 100,000, while women had a rate of 840.9 per 100,000.
Researchers have also tracked the recovery of 68 patients in Mumbai, India to study the gender disparity of the virus. The observation showed similar results according to a preliminary report posted on MedRxix.
Others have added that men may be more vulnerable to the coronavirus because they are more likely to smoke and have high blood pressure.
Coronavirus has also been reported to be a greater risk for older people, and particularly those more than 80 years old.
