It is perhaps a simple coincidence or COVID’s blatant gender bias but the BMC sero survey released on Tuesday showed that more women than men had antibodies to the novel coronavirus.
As it is data from across the world shows that fewer women get Coronavirus compared to men. In some countries, twice as many men as women have succumbed to the viral infection. In Mumbai, too, only 45 per cent of the patients are women as against 55 per cent male patients.
The BMC’s sero survey, which showed that more than half of the slum-dwellers in three wards had antibodies to COVID-19, showed that 59.3 per cent of the total 2,297 women surveyed had antibodies. In contrast, 53.2 per cent of the 1,937 men surveyed had antibodies.“Apart from the high sero-positive rate we found in the slums, the higher rate in women was the other significant finding,” said Dr Ullas Kolthur of TIFR, which along with Niti Aayog & the BMC conducted the survey.
The reason could be sociological & biological differences, said Dr Jayanthi Shastri, who heads the BMC’s Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory located within Kasturba Hospital. Dr Kolthur added, “Women’s social behaviour is such that they intermingle more and, hence, are more exposed. It could also have some physiological reason, we cannot be sure at the moment.”
A day after the test results were announced, BMC’s additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said, “We are inching towards herd immunity.’’ He, however, said it now more important than ever to observe personal hygiene & sanitisation & wear masks for the next couple of months.
The survey highlighted the spread due to asymptomatic patients. “The spread of the virus from asymptomatic to asymptomatic is very low because the viral load itself is low. But the probability of spread from symptomatic to asymptomatic is high. When the BMC decided to quarantine symptomatic persons, the spread was contained,” said Kakani.
The sero-survey’s findings also showed positivity rate was lower among the 25-40 age group as against the 60-plus age group.
However, the researchers, said that the difference was not statistically significant as the sampling was done earlier when there was not much movement of people.
Dr Shastri said tenement sizes in slums are so small that there is hardly any place for the old to be isolated. “They could have caught the infection from younger people. It’s a coincidental finding that more of the elderly have antibodies,’’ she said.
The BMC data showed nearly similar findings across the three wards. While non-slum pockets had 16 per cent sero-positive rate, the slums in the F Northward, which include those across Matunga & Wadala, showed a positivity of 58 per cent, M-West showed 57 per cent & R North 51 per cent.
The survey’s findings led to a talk on herd immunity on social media. However, Dr Kolthur said, “Herd immunity amongst the slums will be reached faster, though it is still a big if. It would depend on transmission rate, population density & how long the immunity will last.’’The next leg of the survey, scheduled to start in the same three wards between August 10 & 15, will help find the answers.
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