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More men than women victims, says study
Umesh Isalkar, TNN, Aug 28, 2010, 04.30am IST
PUNE: The H1N1 virus has claimed more men than women, an analysis of the gender pattern of H1N1 casualties in Pune district has revealed. The official data says that a total of 192 men died due to swine flu as against 181 women since August 2009 till date.
"The H1N1 virus has killed more men than women over the year. This gender pattern of the swine flu casualties has been seen across the globe," said Sharad Agarkhedkar, president of the city chapter of Indian Medical Association ( IMA).
"Women have been able to fight the infection better. Their defence mechanism is stronger than men's. They are genetically empowered with more disease-fighting capacity. Women have two X chromosomes that enable them to have more fighting capacity against any type of infection. We have observed that premature baby girls survive more often than baby boys because of these reasons. There are studies which substantiate these observations. Hence H1N1 infection has claimed more males than females," he said.
Sassoon General Hospital dean Arun Jamkar said, "The foremost reason is men are more mobile than women and mingle with people outside more often than women. Hence more men have caught the H1N1 infection than women and as a result the casualties are also more in men."
However, the number of male deaths is not statistically much higher than female deaths, said Jamkar.
BOX
Sex -wise deaths
Male Female Total
117 94 211 (Last year between August 3 till March 31)
75 87 162 (This year between April 1 till August 27))
This pattern is not repeated in Maharashtra as a whole. Of 733 Maharashtran fatalities currently in Flutrackers database, 387 are female, 342 male and 4 unidentified.
Umesh Isalkar, TNN, Aug 28, 2010, 04.30am IST
PUNE: The H1N1 virus has claimed more men than women, an analysis of the gender pattern of H1N1 casualties in Pune district has revealed. The official data says that a total of 192 men died due to swine flu as against 181 women since August 2009 till date.
"The H1N1 virus has killed more men than women over the year. This gender pattern of the swine flu casualties has been seen across the globe," said Sharad Agarkhedkar, president of the city chapter of Indian Medical Association ( IMA).
"Women have been able to fight the infection better. Their defence mechanism is stronger than men's. They are genetically empowered with more disease-fighting capacity. Women have two X chromosomes that enable them to have more fighting capacity against any type of infection. We have observed that premature baby girls survive more often than baby boys because of these reasons. There are studies which substantiate these observations. Hence H1N1 infection has claimed more males than females," he said.
Sassoon General Hospital dean Arun Jamkar said, "The foremost reason is men are more mobile than women and mingle with people outside more often than women. Hence more men have caught the H1N1 infection than women and as a result the casualties are also more in men."
However, the number of male deaths is not statistically much higher than female deaths, said Jamkar.
BOX
Sex -wise deaths
Male Female Total
117 94 211 (Last year between August 3 till March 31)
75 87 162 (This year between April 1 till August 27))
This pattern is not repeated in Maharashtra as a whole. Of 733 Maharashtran fatalities currently in Flutrackers database, 387 are female, 342 male and 4 unidentified.