Journal of Infectious Diseases
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jid/current
Volume 205 Issue 2 January 15, 2012

Melinda A. Beck
Influenza and Obesity: Will Vaccines and Antivirals Protect?
J. Infect Dis. (2012) 205(2): 172-173 doi:10.1093/infdis/jir740

Extract
There is a worldwide pandemic of obesity. The World Health Organization estimates 500 million adults and almost 43 million children under the age of 5 years to be obese (body mass index >30) [1]. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one-third of the adult US population is obese. Obesity has been definitively linked to a wide range of comorbidities, including increased coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia [2]. Beyond the contribution of obesity to these chronic diseases, surprisingly little attention has been given to the effects of obesity on the immune response to infectious diseases.

Several studies have now reported that obesity was associated with a poor outcome following infection with 2009 pandemic influenza (pH1N1) [3–7]. Kwong and colleagues reported that obese individuals, in addition to being at risk from pH1N1, were also at greater risk for hospitalization from seasonal influenza infection [8]. In sum, these reports demonstrate that obesity increases the risks associated with influenza infection.

Beyond these clinical studies on the role of obesity in influenza infection, 2 studies in this issue of the Journal using a mouse model and pH1N1 infections provide new insights into obesity’s effect on the immune response to influenza virus infection and the ability of vaccination or antiviral treatment to mitigate the effects of infection.

Vaccination remains our …