Sex-differential responses to preventive health interventions. Maybe we treat boys and girls differently when we treat them equally?--Secondary publication.

It is well recognised that boys and girls differ with respect to morbidity, for instance boys more often suffer from respiratory infections and asthma, whereas girls are more susceptible to celiac disease and insulin resistance/type II diabetes. Nonetheless, there are very few studies which have addressed the potential differences in boys' and girls' immune systems. From our perspective of long-term research in low-income countries, it is problematic that we implement preventive health interventions and treatments which influence the immune system without investigating whether there are sex-differences in the response to these interventions.