The “evidence is clear” that men are far more severely affected by COVID than women, according to Professor Luke O’Neill.

It comes after a new study found that Irish men who tested positive this year were at least 25% more likely to die than women.

The study from the Society of Actuaries in Ireland (SAI) found that 1.62% of the men that tested positive in Ireland this year died.

The percentage of women that died after catching the disease was 1.29%.

On The Pat Kenny Show, Trinity Professor Luke O’Neill said the study confirms the experience in hospitals around the world.

“That became clear early on to us that men were more at risk and the question was why was that,” he said.

“Was it testosterone? One idea was that it was the ACE2 [receptor] – that the lock the virus goes into, there is more of that in men’s lungs basically so the virus gets a bigger foothold.

“But yeah, the evidence is clear now that if you are male, you are at a higher risk sadly of more severe disease.”

Third wave

The SAI study was based on data from the CSO. It found that the disparity between men and women was most marked in the third wave of the pandemic when more detailed statistics were made available.

The researchers suggested that the differences may become more marked depending on age – and in some age brackets, men could be up to 50% more likely to die.

In a statement, the SAI said: “It is important to remember that these are not just figures, they are people, and each death is a trauma for a family.

“As the vast majority of deaths have to date occurred in older age groups, the success of the vaccination rollout may substantially alter the age profile of those who die with a COVID-19 infection and it will be interesting to see if the gender bias persists into the future.”

COVID-19

The group put forward a number of possible reasons for the differences between men and women – including a higher incidence of co-morbidities (obesity, heart disease and diabetes), as well as higher rates of smoking and drinking amongst men.

They note that while reasonable, the reasons put forward remain conjecture.

The SAI findings are consistent with the experience around the world, with the latest study from Global Health finding that the average male to female death ratio across 95 countries is 1.35.

That means there has been, on average, 1.35 male deaths for every one female death in those countries.

You can listen back to Professor O’Neill here: