Higher long COVID risk in women?

Almost five years after the start of the COVID 19 pandemic, studies are beginning to provide results on the long-term effects of the disease. A recent article suggests that the risk of developing long COVID depends on biological sex.

The 𝐒𝐀𝐑𝐒-𝐂𝐨𝐕-𝟐 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐮𝐬, at the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic, affected more than 700 million people and caused 7 million deaths. 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐱 has already been identified as a 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 in the development, presentation and trajectory of 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃. Men appear to be more likely to report severe cases of COVID-19 and higher mortality. However, according to several studies, women are 𝐚𝐭 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃. As a reminder, long COVID is defined as persistence of COVID symptoms 𝐛𝐞𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝟒 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤𝐬 after infection.

A recent study published in 𝐽𝐴𝑀𝐴 𝑁𝑒𝑡𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑛 investigated the 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 of developing long COVID between adult men and women. Among the 12,276 participants who had been infected with SARS-CoV-2 (73% women), women had a 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃 in all age groups except 18-39 years. More specifically, the overall risk was 31% higher among women and reached 𝟒𝟖% 𝐚𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝟎-𝟓𝟓 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩. However, women under the age of 40 did not have a significantly different risk of developing long COVID than men.

These results highlight the importance of 𝐬𝐞𝐱-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 and the mechanisms underlying them, with a view to 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐎𝐕𝐈𝐃 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. It should be noted that there are currently only symptomatic treatments for long COVID.