Author Interviews, COVID -19 Coronavirus / 29.09.2020
Immune Mediators Contribute to More Severe COVID-19 Infection in Men
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Gizem Kilic MSc, PhD Candidate}
Radboud University Medical Center
Department of Internal Medicine
Laboratory of Experimental Internal Medicine
Nijmegen
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Having emerged in Wuhan, China in December 2019, novel coronavirus infection 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV2) has become a major health crisis affecting worldwide. Although the disease symptoms are mild in most of the cases, it is known that advanced age and co-morbidities such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases increase the risk of disease severity. Moreover, epidemiological data from different countries indicated that the mortality rate is higher in males compared to females. There are reports suggesting that some viral and bacterial infection are sex-biased; however, why males are more susceptible to develop severe COVID-19 infection has not been fully understood yet. (more…)