Flu jabs may be less effective in the obese

THE flu jab doesn’t work as well in obese people, say scientists at the University of north Carolina.

They took blood tests and analysed the immunity of 1,022 obese or healthy people before and after being given a flu vaccine.

results published in the international Journal of Obesity showed obese people were twice as likely to develop flu than people of a healthy weight.

The theory is that antibodies (immune cells that destroy viruses) don’t function as normal in obese people — a good antibody response is needed for a vaccine to work.

The researchers suggested that vaccines should be tested specifically on obese people.