Covid 19 Vaccine & Obesity: May Be Less Effective In High BMI People Like Flu, Hep B Vaccines [View all]

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'COVID-19 vaccine may be less effective in obese people, experts warn.' Vaccines have a history of performing poorly in those who are overweight. ABC News, *Aug. 12, 2020.

As the world waits for a COVID-19 vaccine, concerns are already rising that it may not work in obese patients, arguably one of the groups that needs it most. More than 1 in 3 Americans is obese, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said that obese people are among the groups more likely to get sick and die of COVID-19.

We know from other vaccines that have been tested in obese populations that these individuals don't respond as well to these vaccines," said Dr. Matthew B. Laurens, a lead investigator at the University of Maryland School of Medicine for one of the United States' most advanced coronavirus vaccine trials by Moderna Therapeutics.
> Research has long shown that vaccines against viruses like influenza and hepatitis B, as well as other disease-causing organisms like tetanus and rabies, are not as effective in obese adults compared to their thinner peers.

Evidence of this phenomenon goes as far back as 1985, when hundreds of hospital employees in North Carolina were vaccinated against hepatitis B and then studied to see how their immune systems responded. Researchers found that the vaccine was twice as likely to fail -- meaning it did not provide adequate protection against hepatitis B -- in employees with a higher body mass index compared to their colleagues with lower BMIs...

In 2017, researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill reported similar findings in patients getting their yearly flu shot. In their study of over 1,000 participants, they found that obese adults were twice as likely to develop influenza or an influenza-like illness -- despite having been vaccinated against the virus -- compared to non-obese adults.

With 42.4% of the American population being classified as obese, and research identifying obesity as a major risk factor for COVID-19 infection and severe complications from the disease, this is giving some experts reason for pause...

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https://abcnews.go.com/Health/covid-19-vaccine-effective-obese-people-experts-warn/story?id=72335991