Virus appears to strike men, overweight people harderPatterns are emerging in patients presenting with severe COVID-19 symptomsPARIS - In the emergency rooms of virus hotspots around the world, medical staff are seeing a greater number of men than women suffering severe symptoms of COVID-19, with obesity emerging as another potentially aggravating factor. "More men than women have serious problems, and patients who are overweight or have previous health problems are at higher risk," said Derek Hill, Professor of Medical Imaging Science at University College London. Early statistics from Britain's independent Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre on people treated in intensive care for the virus confirm this phenomenon: 73 percent are men and 73.4 percent are classed as overweight. "It's four out of five patients," he told the New York Times. While he said there was "no clear explanation", he raised the theory that men had a higher frequency of multiple pathologies.

Source: Bangkok Post April 10, 2020 13:52 UTC