ArticlePloS one2021
Sex differences in the case-fatality rates for COVID-19-A comparison of the age-related differences and consistency over seven countries.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers.
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Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 51 citations in OpenAlex.
- Sex differences in response to COVID-19 infection: a retrospective study based on emergency medical team interventions.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- Understanding sex and gender disparities in COVID-19 mortality: a narrative review beyond biology.Biology of sex differences · 2025Review
- Attention to COVID 19 pandemic resulted in increased measles cases and deaths in Zambia.Tropical medicine and health · 2025Article
- Retrospective study on the epidemiological characteristics of multi-pathogen infections of hospitalized severe acute respiratory tract infection and influenza-like illness in Xinjiang from January to May 2024.BMC infectious diseases · 2025Article
- Testosterone and estradiol reduce inflammation of human macrophages induced by anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG.European journal of immunology · 2024Article
- Sex differences in response to COVID-19 mRNA vaccines in Italian population.Epidemiology and infection · 2024Article
- Estimates of SARS-CoV-2 Hospitalization and Fatality Rates in the Prevaccination Period, United States.Emerging infectious diseases · 2024Article
- Diagnostic challenges of long COVID in children: a survey of pediatric health care providers' preferences and practices.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2024Article
- Short-term side effects of BNT162b2 vaccine in primary care settings in Qatar: a retrospective study.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Sex differences in coronavirus disease 2019 myocarditis.Current opinion in physiology · 2023Article
- Impact of COVID-19 on Spanish mortality rates in 2020 by age and sex.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
- Sex hormones in SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility: key players or confounders?Nature reviews. Endocrinology · 2023Review
- Sex-Based Differences in Survival Among Patients with Acute Abdomen Undergoing Surgery in Malawi: A Propensity Weighted Analysis.World journal of surgery · 2023Article
- Host genetics and gut microbiota composition: Baseline gut microbiota composition as a possible prognostic factor for the severity of COVID-19 in patients with familial Mediterranean fever disease.Frontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Biological sex and age-related differences shape the antiviral response to SARS-CoV-2 infection.Heliyon · 2023Article
- Sex differences in hepatitis A incidence rates-a multi-year pooled-analysis based on national data from nine high-income countries.PloS one · 2023Article
- Side Effects of COVID-19 Vaccines Primer Doses: Experience of Saudi Healthcare Workers Participating in CoVaST-SA.Vaccines · 2022Article
- Women Are More Infected and Seek Care Faster but Are Less Severely Ill: Gender Gaps in COVID-19 Morbidity and Mortality during Two Years of a Pandemic in Israel.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- COVID-19 burden, author affiliation and women's well-being: A bibliometric analysis of COVID-19 related publications including focus on low- and middle-income countries.EClinicalMedicine · 2022Article
- More on age and gender in COVID-19.Maturitas · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundEarly in the COVID-19 pandemic, it was noted that males seemed to have higher case-fatality rates than females. We examined the magnitude and consistency of the sex differences in age-specific case-fatality rates (CFRs) in seven countries.
methodsData on the cases and deaths from COVID-19, by sex and age group, were extracted from the national official agencies from Denmark, England, Israel, Italy, Spain, Canada and Mexico. Age-specific CFRs were computed for males and females separately. The ratio of the male to female CFRs were computed and meta-analytic methods were used to obtained pooled estimates of the male to female ratio of the CFRs over the seven countries, for all age-groups. Meta-regression and sensitivity analysis were conducted to evaluate the age and country contribution to differences.
resultsThe CFRs were consistently higher in males at all ages. The pooled M:F CFR ratios were 1.71, 1.88, 2.11, 2.11, 1.84, 1.78 and 1.49, for ages 20-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59, 60-69, 70-79, 80+ respectively. In meta-regression, age group and country were associated with the heterogeneity in the CFR ratios.
conclusionsThe sex differences in the age-specific CFRs are intriguing. Sex differences in the incidence and mortality have been found in many infectious diseases. For COVID-19, factors such as sex differences in the prevalence of underlying diseases may play a part in the CFR differences. However, the consistently greater case-fatality rates in males at all ages suggests that sex-related factors impact on the natural history of the disease. This could provide important clues as to the mechanisms underlying the severity of COVID-19 in some patients.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.