Women are three times more likely than men to get severe long COVID: Here’s why

Published by: Folio - University of Alberta
Published on: November 7, 2025
By Gillian Rutherford

Research published today in Cell Reports Medicine reveals key biological differences that may explain why women with long COVID — especially those who develop chronic fatigue syndrome — tend to experience more severe and persistent symptoms than men do.

Post COVID-19 condition, or long COVID, is diagnosed when neurological, respiratory or gastrointestinal symptoms develop or continue three months or more after an acute SARS-CoV-2 infection.

The likelihood of developing long COVID is three times higher for women than men, but until now the underlying biological mechanisms driving this disparity have remained unknown.

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climate crisis

Alberta scientists band together to shift climate change focus to health impacts

Published March 24, 2024

Published by: CTV News / The Canadian Press
Published on: March 24, 2024
By Bob Weber

Bodies and minds are just as affected by climate change as sea ice and forests, says University of Alberta scientist Sherilee Harper.

“Climate change impacts everything we care about,” she said. “It’s not just an environmental issue.”

That’s why Harper, along with 30 or so colleagues from disciplines as wide-ranging as economics and epidemiology, have banded together into what she calls Canada’s first university hub to shift the view of climate change from an environmental problem to a threat to human health.

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