Gender differences in COVID-19 patients: a regional survey among physicians of Internal Medicine Wards
Open Access
- 24 September 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by PAGEPress Publications in Italian Journal of Medicine
- Vol. 15 (3), 160-163
- https://doi.org/10.4081/itjm.2021.1443
Abstract
Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has infected millions of individuals around the World. Hypertension (HT), chronic heart disease (CHD), and diabetes mellitus (DM), particularly in the elderly, increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. However, conflicting results [such as coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) disease vulnerability, case fatality, etc.] have been reported about the response to infection and COVID-19 outcomes in men and women. Therefore, understanding predictors of Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission might help future planning and management of the disease. We conducted a multicenter survey about COVID-19 involving internists from Internal Medicine Wards. This survey indirectly allowed us to analyze the information of 2400 patients hospitalized in 35 wards of Internal Medicine of the Campania Region between July and October 2020. Our investigation has detected that the infection is more frequent in males, and the number of male patients hospitalized in ICU is also higher than females, with a large proportion of hypertensive patients. Extensive prospective studies are required to confirm this finding and explore the mechanisms for which hypertensive males are exposed to a higher proportion of admission to ICU and higher case fatality rates.Keywords
This publication has 20 references indexed in Scilit:
- Characteristics of and Important Lessons From the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Outbreak in ChinaJAMA, 2020
- Clinical characteristics of 140 patients infected with SARS‐CoV‐2 in Wuhan, ChinaAllergy, 2020
- Age and Sex-Associated Changes of Complement Activity and Complement Levels in a Healthy Caucasian PopulationFrontiers in Immunology, 2018
- The Confluence of Sex Hormones and Aging on ImmunityFrontiers in Immunology, 2018
- Data correlations between gender, cytomegalovirus infection and T cells, NK cells, and soluble immune mediators in elderly humansData in Brief, 2016
- How sex and age affect immune responses, susceptibility to infections, and response to vaccinationAging Cell, 2015
- Transcriptional Analysis Reveals Gender-Specific Changes in the Aging of the Human Immune SystemPLOS ONE, 2013
- Race and Gender Differences in C-Reactive Protein LevelsJournal of Invasive Cardiology, 2005
- Tumor Necrosis Factor-α Convertase (ADAM17) Mediates Regulated Ectodomain Shedding of the Severe-acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus (SARS-CoV) Receptor, Angiotensin-converting Enzyme-2 (ACE2)Online Journal of Public Health Informatics, 2005