Swine Flu and the Obesity Factor

Studies are under weigh to consider whether higher doses of the H1N1 flu medication should be administered to those who are obese since these patients appear to have serious complications that put them at a higher risk for mortality if they contract the swine flu virus. It has been reported that the virus may have a higher incidence of causing blood clots and fatal respiratory problems in obese patients than in patients with swine flu that are not obese.

Cases of nine obese patients out of ten admitted to an Ann Arbor, Michigan hospital have spotlighted this concern. Certainly, these are not the first cases in the world or even in the United States where obese patients have shown an increased susceptibility to severe complications from the swine flu, but the cluster of obese people with these complications at the same time and at the same hospital has heightened awareness and triggered further study. It is also unclear whether any of the obese patients so adversely affected had the strain of swine flu that has been previously noted to be resistant to the Tamiflu antidote.

Obese people may not always display overt health problems, but they are not healthy by the very nature of being overweight to a degree that puts strain on vital organs. Swine flu is a respiratory illness and respiratory problems are one of the commonly associated maladies with obese people. If they might already have a propensity toward breathing difficulty just because of their obesity, they might have a more difficult time than a person who is not obese that has also contracted this respiratory virus. Although no link has been found in cases of other types of flu strains and obesity, no studies have been done to determine whether this may also be so. The obesity link to swine flu comes at a time when general health causes and concerns due to obesity are being more closely scrutinized by the current administration.