Obese People 3 x more likely to die from flu

Minnie2361

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/08/27/obese-people-three-times-more-likely-to-die-from-influenza-should-be-given-priority-flu-shot-access-study/

Obese people face nearly three-fold higher odds of dying from a flu infection and should be given priority access to flu shots, according to the authors of a new study challenging well-accepted assumptions about who is most at risk of death from influenza.

The global study by researchers at Hamilton’s McMaster University suggests obesity should be considered a new and dangerous risk factor for serious complications from flu.

Canada’s National Advisory Committee on Immunization recommends the “morbidly obese” — those with a body mass index, or BMI, of 40 or higher — be among the priority groups for flu shots.

The researchers looked at risk factors for severe complications of influenza, including pneumonia, admission to a hospital or intensive care unit, the need for artificial ventilation and death.


But the new study found that the risk of dying increases at a BMI of 30 or greater. “We believe that 30 is probably the better cutoff than 40,” said lead author Dr. Dominik Mertz, assistant professor of medicine at McMaster’s Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine.


It’s not clear whether obesity itself increases the risk of death from influenza or the ‘co-morbid’ or co-existing conditions such as diabetes that tend to go along with it
In all, the researchers analyzed 239 studies published between 1918 and 2011 involving more than 610,000 people. The vast majority of studies of pandemic flu involved the H1N1 outbreak in 2009. Most of the studies on seasonal flu were conducted over the last 10 to 20 years.

The researchers looked at risk factors for severe complications of influenza, including pneumonia, admission to a hospital or intensive care unit, the need for artificial ventilation and death.