Disease hits women more often but hits men harder

Women continue to come down with COVID-19 at much higher rates than men in New Hampshire but they don’t get seriously sick as often, and men are much more likely to die from the novel coronavirus.

As of last week, according to state statistics, 56.5 percent of all confirmed cases were in women, but only 41.5 percent of hospitalized patients were women and only 44.5 percent of patients who died were women. The latter fact is particularly striking because the 86 percent of deaths in the state have occurred in people over the age of 70, a group where women significantly outnumber men.

This pattern is found in many places and has been consistent since the pandemic spread in New Hampshire.

Scientists are still not sure what explains the gender difference in how the disease is hitting populations. Possibilities include different hormones, different lifestyles, and patterns of underlying health conditions.

The number of new cases of COVID-19 in New Hampshire is staying stubbornly high, with the 14-day average basically unchanged over the past week and a half. A decline in daily new cases is one of the markers used to signal whether the economy can continue to reopen.

As of Sunday, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, there have been 4,651 cases of COVID-19 diagnosed in the state. Almost two-thirds – 63 percent – have recovered, while about seven percent of current cases are hospitalized.

The state has seen 245 deaths, of which 212 or 86 percent have been in people over the age of 70. Virtually all of those were living in long-term care facilities.

Only one death has been reported in people under the age of 40, although they have come down with about one-third of all cases.

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