Obese people spread flu for longer, claims new research

FLU sufferers could be more contagious if they are fat, research suggests.

The study by the University of Michigan found that obese adults tended to harbour the virus for longer, giving them more time to spread it. Researchers said those with excess weight should be targeted for flu jabs.

It is already known that obesity increased the risk of suffering complications from flu, and is linked to higher severity of disease. But the research is the first to suggest that fatter people are also contagious for longer.

Dr Aubree Gordon, assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said: “This is the first real evidence that obesity might impact more than just disease severity. It might directly impact transmission as well.”

The study analysed 1,800 adults and children in 320 households in Managua, Nicaragua, to assess the effect of obesity on the duration of viral shedding over three influenza seasons from 2015 to 2017.

Nose and throat swabs determined the duration in which they shed the virus and indicated that obese adults with flu symptoms shed influenza A virus for 42 per cent longer than adults with flu who were not obese.

Infected obese adults with mild or no symptoms shed the virus 104 per cent longer than similar non-obese adults, concluded the study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases.

Prof Gordon said further research was under way to establish if the flu virus shed for longer periods by obese

‘This is the first real evidence that obesity might impact more than just disease severity’

individuals continued to be infectious, spreading the illness to others.

It is suggested that being overweight alters the body’s immune response and can lead to chronic inflammation, which increases with age, as well as making breathing harder.

These factors may help explain how obesity could affect influenza risk, severity and transmission potential, the study’s authors said.