Mumbai: According to data released by the Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD), Maharashtra, people in the 31-40 age group are the largest number of coronavirus-infected in the state, 69 per cent of whom are male.
The MEDD released an analysis of the data of 122 people diagnosed with COVID-19 in the state till March25. Further, the data revealed,54 per cent of those affected had travel histories, with 29 per cent being cases of contact transmission.
In11per cent of the cases, the cause of transmission is yet to be determined and in the remaining six per cent, the reason for infection remained inconclusive. Most of the infected had returned from the UAE, followed by returnees from the USA and Saudi Arabia.
As for the largest number of cases being people in the 31-40 age group, specialists attributed it to better reporting among younger people.
“So far the state government has been screening people only with travel histories or for proximity to infected patients. A few travellers in the state are mostly middle aged.
They are the most productive age group, so their count is higher,” said Dr Vikrant Shah, infection specialist from Zen Hospital. Data also shows that 69% of the infected patients are male.
The same finding was highlighted by Lancet, the international science journal, which had reported that as women have stronger immunity by virtue of possessing two X chromosomes and sex hormones, they are less prone to infection than men.
