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Although influenza vaccines are currently the best forms of protection to safeguard people against getting the flu, they are not effective in all cases. A study from Melinda Beck's research team at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the US found that obese people - despite getting their shots - were still twice as likely to develop influenza or flu-like illnesses than others of healthy weight. The findings are published in Springer Nature's International Journal of Obesity.
Obesity is of growing concern worldwide, as it often goes hand in hand with many health problems. Along with age, pregnancy and certain chronic diseases, obesity is also recognised as a factor that increases people's risk of dying from influenza.
Lead author Scott Neidich compared 1022 adults from North Carolina who were healthy weight, overweight or obese. They had all received the seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 flu seasons. Laboratory tests and symptom scores were used to confirm whether a vaccinated participant had flu or influenza-like illness and to which degree their bodies produced influenza-fighting antibodies following vaccination.
Obesity is of growing concern worldwide, as it often goes hand in hand with many health problems. Along with age, pregnancy and certain chronic diseases, obesity is also recognised as a factor that increases people's risk of dying from influenza.
Lead author Scott Neidich compared 1022 adults from North Carolina who were healthy weight, overweight or obese. They had all received the seasonal trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine (IIV3) during the 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 flu seasons. Laboratory tests and symptom scores were used to confirm whether a vaccinated participant had flu or influenza-like illness and to which degree their bodies produced influenza-fighting antibodies following vaccination.
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