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Obesity often complicates medical care, but seldom has it proven as clear-cut a health risk as during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, when it was one of the most significant identified risk factors for complications and death. Two animal studies now confirm this observation.
In one study, both lean and obese mice received three doses of influenza vaccine and were then challenged with H1N1 influenza virus. Almost 90% of the lean mice survived, but all the obese mice died within 2 weeks, with lung pathology characteristic of severe influenza. Vaccination induced significantly lower antibody titers in obese mice than in lean mice, and the serum of the obese mice had significantly less neutralizing activity against the virus.
In another study, …