Investigating the Sex Differences in COVID-19: Another Step Forward, but Many Unanswered Questions

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Philip Yang, Emory University; Annette Esper, Emory University
• Language: English
• Date: 2020-11-01
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © The Author(s) 2020. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases Society of America. All rights reserved.
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciaa776
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Clinical Infectious Diseases
• Volume: 71
• Issue: 9
• Start Page: 2495
• End Page: 2496
• Grant/Funding Information: None declared
• Keywords: Coronavirus Infections; Male; Pandemics; China; SARS-CoV-2; Female; Sex Characteristics; COVID-19; pandemic; sex differences; Pneumonia, Viral; Humans
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Health Care Management; Health Sciences, Public Health; Health Sciences, Epidemiology; Health Sciences, Immunology

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19), caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has developed into a worldwide pandemic and a serious global health crisis since December 2019. Even in the midst of a rapidly growing pandemic, the scientific community has still devoted heroic efforts not only to control the spread of SARSCoV-2, but also to understand the characteristics of COVID-19 and test the efficacy of various treatments. Within a few months of the beginning of the pandemic, several studies from various parts of the world have already reported the characteristics of patients affected by COVID-191-3. While these studies provided valuable information about the risk factors and outcomes from COVID-19, an important issue that has not been addressed in these studies is the sex differences in COVID-19. Other than simply reporting the proportion of male and female patients in their study populations, prior studies have not explored the gender differences in detail. As a result, little is currently known about how men and women may be affected differently by the disease.