Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36319938›Full record

ArticleAging clinical and experimental research2023

Centenarians born before 1919 are resistant to COVID-19.

Calogero Caruso, Giulia Accardi, Anna Aiello, Anna Calabrò, Mattia Emanuela Ligotti, Giuseppina Candore

Open access · bronzeAbstract readHistorical Article
In one paragraph

Article in Aging clinical and experimental research, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
13citing papers in PubMed
3.0field-weighted citation impact, top 8% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

13 citing papers in PubMed, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. The long-lived immune system of centenarians.Nature reviews. Immunology · 2026
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Mortality Trends in Pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 Eras Among Oldest Veterans.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2025
    Article
  5. Observational
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Review
  13. Sex and gender affect immune aging.Frontiers in aging · 2023
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Calogero CarusoLaboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy. calogero.caruso@unipa.it.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8004-2363
Giulia AccardiLaboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Anna AielloLaboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Anna CalabròLaboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Mattia Emanuela LigottiLaboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Giuseppina CandoreLaboratorio di Immunopatologia e Immunosenescenza, Dipartimento di Biomedicina, Neuroscienze e Diagnostica Avanzata, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
University of Palermo · IT

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Although mortality from COVID-19 progressively increases with age, there are controversial data in the literature on the probability of centenarians dying from COVID-19. Moreover, it has been claimed that men in their 90s and 100s are more resilient than women. To gain insight into this matter, we analysed, according to gender, mortality data during the first year of pandemic of Sicilian nonagenarians and centenarians. We used mortality data from the 2019 as a control. The crude excess mortality between the two years was calculated. Data on deaths of Sicilian 90 + years show that, in line with what is known about the different response to infections between the two genders, oldest females are more resilient to COVID-19 than males. Moreover, centenarians born before 1919, but not "younger centenarians", are resilient to COVID-19. This latter datum should be related to the 1918 Spanish flu epidemic, although the mechanisms involved are not clear.

Indexed as

COVID-19Influenza Pandemic, 1918-1919Aged, 80 and overCentenariansFemaleHistory, 20th CenturyHumansMaleProbabilityCentenariansCOVID-19GenderImmune responsesSpanish Flu

Identifiers

PMID36319938
PMCPMC9628492
OpenAlexW4308159414

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.