Coronavirus has killed more men than women. Here’s why, experts say

More men than women are dying from the new coronavirus, media outlets reported.

In Italy, men make up 60 percent of confirmed cases, and more than 70 percent of people who died in the country are men, The Washington Post reported. In South Korea, women make up 61 percent of confirmed cases, but 54 percent of those who died were men, the outlet reported.

More men have health risks and drink and smoke more in China, South Korea and Italy, The Post reported, citing the World Health Organization. Men also die at higher rates from cancer, heart disease, diabetes and respiratory diseases.

The death rate from coronavirus for men is 2.8 percent, while the rate is 1.7 percent for women, according to The New York Times, citing a Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention analysis.

Some health experts say women have stronger immune systems than men.

“This is a pattern we’ve seen with many viral infections of the respiratory tract — men can have worse outcomes,” Sabra Klein, a scientist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, told The New York Times. “We’ve seen this with other viruses. Women fight them off better.

Women have stronger immune responses than men after vaccinations, the outlet reported.

Researchers at Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital said women could have a “reduced susceptibility” to viral infections, and chronic illnesses -- including cardiovascular disease and diabetes -- impact men more than women, Business Insider reported.