New publications
Who has a harder time with the flu?
Last reviewed: 01.07.2025
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
It is more difficult for the female body to cope with the infection due to its own hormones, which cause overstimulation of the immune system and, as a consequence, the development of a powerful inadequate immune response.
Why is the weaker sex more susceptible to infections? This question was first considered by researchers in the United States, who observed mice of different sexes infected with the flu virus. It was noted that females tolerate the disease more severely than males. The difference disappeared when the ovaries were removed from females and the testicles from males.
It was possible to increase the protective forces of the mouse organism against the virus by giving females with removed sex glands estrogen and progesterone. Immune cells have special receptors for female sex hormones, which has been known for a long time. For this reason, it is believed that women suffer more often from autoimmune diseases, since the female immune system is constantly irritated by sex hormones.
Constant "combat readiness" can aggravate the course of infectious processes. For example, with the flu, a woman's body may contain fewer pathogenic viruses than a man's, and the symptoms will be more severe. This paradox can only be explained by an excessive immune response to viruses.
It turns out that the woman's immune system, under the influence of sex hormones, forms an excessive response that eliminates the infection and causes harm to the body itself. The overexcited immune system produces excessive protection where it could have done with less effort.
According to foreign experts, a way out of such a situation may be regular vaccination, which will help the body get used to the pathogen and avoid a violent reaction when it appears later. Another way is to take hormonal contraceptives that maintain normal hormone levels and prevent menstrual cycle irregularities. During seasonal exacerbations, the combined action of anti-infective drugs and agents that lower hormonal levels will not hurt.
However, scientists themselves admit that there have been very few studies on the influence of female hormonal levels, the monthly cycle, and the female body's response to various infections. Therefore, it is too early to draw premature conclusions and give any medical recommendations.
British doctors have a completely opposite opinion, believing that men of a certain age tolerate viral infections more difficultly. This is due to changes in the brain area, namely the presence of an increased number of thermal receptors in the hypothalamus. The brain area with preoptic nuclei, responsible for various indicators, as well as temperature, receives signals about the presence of a pathogen in the body. Under the influence of testosterone, the nuclei, in turn, cause a significant increase in temperature. In men, as is known, the preoptic area of the hypothalamus is larger than in women, so they tolerate infectious diseases more difficultly.
Is the severity of the flu virus disease related to the "sexual preferences" of the viruses themselves or is this another myth? - Scientists have yet to find out. But the fact that children and the elderly tolerate the infection more severely is a proven fact.