Coronavirus (COVID-19) Discussion Thread

[Pyro as Bill]

SvennoJ said:

That is weird since so far smoking was blamed for the much higher ratio of male deaths vs female deaths in China:

When reading these numbers, it must be taken into account that smoking in China is much more prevalent among males. Smoking increases the risks of respiratory complications.


However males being more vulnerable turned out to be a theme

New York the same 63% of deaths are males, no difference with China yet

USA:

• Nearly 16 of every 100 adult men (15.6%)
• About 12 of every 100 adult women (12.0%)

China: 50% of males smoke vs 2% of females.

Is there something else going on?

Smoking was an early theory because of the male female disparity in China. Men have more of the receptor that the virus binds to. Anything that hinders the binding would offer some protection.