Women have more long-term Covid symptoms than men, study finds

Women who have been infected with the Sars-CoV-2 virus in the past have more symptoms of the so-called long Covid than men, according to a study carried out at the Hospital of Parma, Italy.

According to the surveys, 97% of women continued to have symptoms after infection with the virus, compared to 84% of men – and age was not a determining factor in developing them.

In addition, the symptoms that were most frequently reported by women were dyspnea (shortness of breath), fatigue, chest pain and palpitations, and this occurred both in the acute phase of the disease and after at least five months from the onset of symptoms.

Patients were evaluated both in the hospital phase and after discharge. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Parma and the Hospital of Parma and published in the Journal of Women’s Health.

To assess the number of symptoms reported at least 23 weeks (or five months) after infection with the coronavirus, the group recruited 223 patients who underwent medical care at the hospital center from May 2020 to March 2021, with 134 (60%) men and 89 (40%) women.

Although men had, in general, a worse clinical outcome in the acute phase of the disease, with a greater risk of progressing to a serious condition of Covid and requiring hospitalization (75% of men needed oxygen support, against 53% of women) , the symptoms experienced by women in the acute phase of the infection were the same or even worse in the long Covid.

Tiredness (fatigue) was the symptom that most harmed women in the long term. In all, 75% of them reported it at least five months after infection, against 53% during the acute phase of the disease. Compared to men, 39% of them said they had fatigue at follow-up after hospital discharge. During the acute phase, they were 38%.

Regarding the predisposing factors for the onset of symptoms of long-term Covid, the authors found that having dyspnea, chest pain, palpitations, body aches or sleep disturbances in the acute phase of the disease were more associated with continuing to have coronavirus sequelae. months later.

In addition, overweight, calculated by body mass index (BMI) also influenced persistent shortness of breath. In the survey, the average weight of the members, measured by the body mass index, was above the value considered ideal (BMI less than 25) and 30% were obese (BMI equal to or greater than 30).

This influenced the development of symptoms such as shortness of breath, since having a high BMI was considered to be correlated to having dyspnea as an effect of long-term Covid.

Another variable that influenced the feeling of fatigue was weight loss, and this was more associated with individuals who were previously overweight.

Several studies have pointed out among the factors that can influence long Covid are age and the presence of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and hypertension, in addition to sex.

A study conducted in Brazil pointed out that 60% of patients who were hospitalized for Covid had sequelae months after leaving the hospital. Another study, carried out by researchers from several institutions, found a worsening in the quality of life in more than half of hospitalized patients.

Still, even healthy children can develop long-term Covid sequelae, as indicated by a study carried out at Hospital das Clínicas that found that 43% of children suffer effects three months after infection.

Other factors that may be associated with the appearance of sequelae are the presence of autoantibodies in the body, a reactivation of the Epstein-Barr virus, which infects most people when young and remains dormant in the body, having type 2 diabetes – a disease that kills almost 7 million people a year in the world—, and still a high viral load of Sars-Cov-2 at the beginning of the infection.

Research conducted at the University of Parma also observed that patients who use antivirals early in the development of symptoms, such as the drugs lopinavir and ritonavir, had a lower occurrence of post-recovery symptoms. In general, the men received more antiviral drugs than the women in the experiment.

“In addition, long-term follow-up studies are needed to fully understand the pathophysiology of gender-related symptoms and pharmacological treatment effects related to long-term Covid; such studies will be crucial to understanding the natural trajectory of long-term Covid and to implementing treatments. and targeted strategies to avoid gender bias in care during the acute phase,” the article reads.