Gert van der Hoek
In Memoriam - Editor, Senior Moderator
Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD
[FONT="]Leading infectious disease research centers are developing a “universal flu vaccine,” hopefully within a few years. Our goal is a durable vaccine that can control an expanding range of virus strains across all age groups. But we are concerned by evidence that obese people may not be adequately protected by flu vaccines and likely to shed (release) more of the virus for longer periods.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Between 1975 and 2016, obesity rates nearly tripled worldwide, to 650 million adults. Is this one reason we are seeing more severe disease and less effective flu vaccines? We hope to answer these questions.[/FONT]
[FONT="]How much does obesity weigh?
Let’s clarify our definition of obese: Many people reserve that word to describe someone with a weight or body-mass problem severe enough to make public accommodations inaccessible.
Is an adult who weighs 175 pounds obese?
That’s the low end of obesity for an average-height woman (5’4”
. The threshold is around 205 pounds for average-height men (5’9”.
Connecting obesity with flu severity
A recent influenza field study, funded in part by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS), monitored the effect of obesity on the duration of viral transmission within households. Dr. Aubree Gordon (University of Michigan) and her research team observed that obese adults displaying influenza symptoms carried transmittable virus in their mucous 42% longer than non-obese adults. Ironically, this trend was even worse among people who did not appear to be sick. Infected obese adults with no flu symptoms—or one minor symptom—could transmit the virus twice as long as non-obese adults with similar symptoms.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Why is St. Jude researching influenza?
There was some good news from that field study: Obese children and teens did not appear to be able to shed or transmit influenza for any longer than non-obese children. They were probably still facing a higher risk of catching the flu, and catching it worse. This brings up a common question:
Since when is a children’s hospital, famous for cancer research, studying influenza?
We have been doing this a lot longer than you might think.
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the cataclysmic 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic. For more than half of that century, St. Jude has been investigating influenza viruses. This work has always been important for our cancer patients because cancer treatments suppress their immune systems and put them at risk for infectious diseases.
Read more[/FONT]
[FONT="]Jan 10, 2019[/FONT]
[FONT="]Leading infectious disease research centers are developing a “universal flu vaccine,” hopefully within a few years. Our goal is a durable vaccine that can control an expanding range of virus strains across all age groups. But we are concerned by evidence that obese people may not be adequately protected by flu vaccines and likely to shed (release) more of the virus for longer periods.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Between 1975 and 2016, obesity rates nearly tripled worldwide, to 650 million adults. Is this one reason we are seeing more severe disease and less effective flu vaccines? We hope to answer these questions.[/FONT]
[FONT="]How much does obesity weigh?
Let’s clarify our definition of obese: Many people reserve that word to describe someone with a weight or body-mass problem severe enough to make public accommodations inaccessible.
Is an adult who weighs 175 pounds obese?
That’s the low end of obesity for an average-height woman (5’4”
. The threshold is around 205 pounds for average-height men (5’9”. Connecting obesity with flu severity
A recent influenza field study, funded in part by the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Center of Excellence for Influenza Research and Surveillance (CEIRS), monitored the effect of obesity on the duration of viral transmission within households. Dr. Aubree Gordon (University of Michigan) and her research team observed that obese adults displaying influenza symptoms carried transmittable virus in their mucous 42% longer than non-obese adults. Ironically, this trend was even worse among people who did not appear to be sick. Infected obese adults with no flu symptoms—or one minor symptom—could transmit the virus twice as long as non-obese adults with similar symptoms.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Why is St. Jude researching influenza?
There was some good news from that field study: Obese children and teens did not appear to be able to shed or transmit influenza for any longer than non-obese children. They were probably still facing a higher risk of catching the flu, and catching it worse. This brings up a common question:
Since when is a children’s hospital, famous for cancer research, studying influenza?
We have been doing this a lot longer than you might think.
Last year marked the 100th anniversary of the cataclysmic 1918 “Spanish flu” pandemic. For more than half of that century, St. Jude has been investigating influenza viruses. This work has always been important for our cancer patients because cancer treatments suppress their immune systems and put them at risk for infectious diseases.
Read more[/FONT]