Men more vulnerable to Covid-19 than women: Health experts

KABUL (Pajhwok): Health experts say men are more vulnerable to Covid-19 infection than women due to their lower immune system and work outside home.

After emerging in the Wuhan city of China, the COVID-19 virus has spread around the globe. Hundreds of millions of people have been infected with Covid-19 and more than 6.3 million have died globally.

The first positive case of the virus in Afghanistan was detected in western Herat province in February 2020. Then the disease spread across the country.

Millions of people were infected and hundreds of thousands killed following the spread of the coronavirus worldwide, including in Afghanistan.

Two months ago, according to the Ministry of Public Health, a total of 197,000 positive cases have been registered countrywide since the coronavirus outbreak. At least 162,202 people have recovered, with 7,600 losing their lives.

Faridullah Omari, a trainer and specialist at the Antani hospital in Kabul, told Pajhwok Afghan News that a research emphasized that men were more likely to be infected with Covid than women.

According to Dr. Omari, the other reason is that compared to women, men do their daily tasks outside the house, they are more likely to be infected with coronavirus and the use of cigarettes weakens their immune system and promotes several diseases.

He said about 60 percent men tested positive for Covid-19 and 40 percent women around the world.

Dr. Mohammad Naeemullah Waziri, in charge of the Afghan-Japan hospital, told Pajhwok that men contracted Covid-19 more than women and according to a new research, hormonal effects caused the difference between men and women in getting infected with coronavirus.

Asked why men were infected more than women, he replied: “Women are safer than men and get infected less often, and another reason is that men spend most of their time outside the home.”

Dr. Mirani Bratizi, in charge of emergency department in Afghan-Japan hospital, also said the death rate of men was higher compared to women in their hospital. However, he said the reason for the increase in number of infected men compared to women had not yet been identified.

sa/ma