Are COVID-19 symptoms related to gender and age?

COVID-19 in different people can proceed in different ways: for some, the disease is "disguised" as a cold, and for someone it causes well-known symptoms such as loss of smell and taste, researchers from King's College London identified groups of symptoms depending on the gender and age of the patient.

According to Medportal.ru, experts analyzed the data of 15,000 Britons with confirmed coronavirus. In total, scientists identified 18 different symptoms of the disease, and then analyzed in which age and gender groups they were most often manifested.

As it turned out, among participants aged 16-39 years, loss of smell was the most common early symptom. This is followed by chest pain, abdominal pain and shortness of breath. In patients 40-59 years old, COVID-19 most often begins with cough, chest pain and impaired sense of smell.

In people 60-79 years old, the most characteristic symptom of coronavirus infection manifests itself much less often, and mainly it makes itself felt with chest pain, myalgia and shortness of breath. At the same time, patients 80 years and older very rarely report loss of smell; most often in this age group, the disease begins with muscle pain, shortness of breath and diarrhea.

When the authors of the study analyzed the difference in symptoms by gender, it was found that women were more likely to experience impaired smell and taste, chest pain, and persistent coughing. Men are more likely to report shortness of breath, chronic fatigue, and chills.

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