Following the death of an elderly male in Kashmir valley due to the novel (new) coronavirus, Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Thursday said the novel virus is killing more men than women.“More men are dying than women due to the virus,” said DAK PresidentDr Nisar ul Hassan.“This is what evidence shows in countries with heavy death tolls,” he said.“According to a report by Higher Health Institute of Rome, based on analysis of 25,0258cases in Italy, men accounted for nearly 60 percent of the cases and more than 70 percent of deaths,” Dr Nisar said.“In Spain, the number of men who died from the virus was nearly double that of the number of women, according to another report from the Carlos III Health institute,” he added. Dr Nisar said these figures are in line with early accounts from China, where the death rate for men was 2.8 percent compared to 1.7 percent for women, according to the largest analysis of cases by the China’s Centre for Disease control and Prevention.He said the gender disparity in illness and death could be biological or behavioral.“Women have more robust immune system than men and are able to fend off infection. The female sex hormone appears to play a role in immunity, as does X chromosome, which contains immune-related genes. Women carry 2 X chromosomes, men only one.Men smoke at higher rates than women that damages the lung defense and increases the risk of severe infection.Males are more prone to develop heart disease, hypertension and diabetes than females, leaving them at a higher risk of developing severe complications from the virus,” Dr Nisar said.“Being male is as much a risk factor for coronavirus as being old.People need to be aware that there is this pattern,” he said.“Kashmir valley reported its first coronavirus death today. He was 65 years old male, a smoker with underlying diabetes and hypertension. Of the eight laboratory confirmed cases of the virus in the valley so far, 7 are males and one is a female,” said Dr Nisar.(KNT)