Men’s immune response to new coronavirus infection differs from that of women, which led to more severe disease often being observed in men, said a team of US researchers led by Akiko Iwasaki from the Yale University School of Medicine. The study, published in the journal Nature last week, found men had higher levels of inflammation-causing proteins called cytokines and chemokines in their blood while women had a stronger T cells response. T cells, which are a part of the body’s longer-lasting immune response, seek and destroy infected cells to stop virus from replicating inside the body. Cytokines are proteins that regulate immune response. Covid-19 is marked by a hyper immune response called a cytokine storm, which can lead to death. The study found that infection worsened in men with weak T-cell response while women who had more severe disease had increased amounts of inflammatory cytokines. Twice as many men have died of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as women in India, with men accounting for 69% of all fatalities, according to health ministry data. Less than one in three persons who died of Covid-19 was a woman. By August 22, women accounted for 17,315 of the total Covid-19 toll of 56,292. The pandemic had killed 38,973 men by the third week of August, shows the data.
