A new study indicates that being obese might not just affect the severity of the flu, but also how the virus spreads to others.
Obesity and the flu
Researchers at the University of Michigan School of Public Health found that obesity appears to affect how long it takes a person to shed influenza A virus from their body.
In reviewing data from nearly 1,800 people in Nicaragua over the course of three flu seasons (2015, 2016, 2017), the research team found that obese people took 42% longer to get rid of the flu virus than people who weren’t obese. In addition, obese people who only displayed mild flu symptoms took 104% longer than non-obese people to shed the virus.
According to an editorial that was linked to the study, there’s a poor vaccine response in the overweight and obese populations.
Limitations of the study
The study only looked at influenza A, not B, which is usually less serious and not as likely to cause an epidemic. It also didn’t find the same results applied to children with obesity. “With increasing focus on the development of a universal influenza vaccine, improved protection from influenza is on the horizon,” wrote Stacey Schultz-Cherry of the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “The question remains whether these approaches will not only protect this target population but also reduce viral shedding duration.”
Complications from the flu
Previous research has shown that obesity raises the risk of complications (and even death) from the flu. This is especially true in seniors.
In addition, the flu can complicate chronic medical conditions (and vice versa), such as asthma, pneumonia, heart inflammation, and brain inflammation.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 80,000 Americans died of influenza and its complications last winter. It peaked in early February and by the end of March, most of it was out of circulation. It wasn’t the worst year on record, however. In 1918, influenza killed more than half a million Americans and lasted nearly two years.
