Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) by sex...

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I haven't updated my MERS-database since before Xmas. 

Wow.

It's painful to look at. 

Not because of a swag of new cases, I mean its tough to actually look at what's happening because the data, even with WHO expanding their coverage to include a more fixed set of information (the inclusion of animal contact is particularly welcome), is just so patchy. 

Some cases have sex but no date of onset of illness, some the other way around, hardly any have the date of lab confirmation or hospitalization and often it's near impossible to determine in which region the case was initially acquired. 

There is also still a question mark over the Tunisian cases and whether they originated in Tunisia or elsewhere I believe. The Spanish cases remain as probables (@WHO noted that they could not be confirmed via Twitter), so they are not on my list.

Nonetheless, I'll update my other charts as best I can. Keep an eye on the little bits of text in each graphic, they define the data gaps...164 of 177 possible total cases for example. In this instance, we are missing the sex of 13 MERS-CoV cases and I can only find identifying details for 73 of 75 deaths but 2 of those have no sex data either. You get the picture.

What is clear? Males (50% of those with data are >55-years of age) still dominate in the total cases and in those who have died of MERS-CoV infection (49% of male deaths are >55-years of age). That death is possibly due to exacerbation of an underlying disease or co-morbidity since they feature prominently in the MERS-CoV hospital-based population.