The UNC Chapel Hill Study gives cause for concern COVID-19 Vaccine will be less effective for those with obesity.
A review of COVID-19 studies reveals a worrying link between two health crises: coronavirus and obesity.
From COVID-19 Risk to Recovery, the odds are stacked against those with obesity, and a new study conducted by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill raises concerns about the impact of obesity on the effectiveness of a future COVID- 19 vaccine.
The researchers examined the available published literature on people infected with the virus and found that obese people (BMI over 30) had a greatly increased risk of hospitalization (113%) and were more likely to be admitted to the intensive care unit (74) %). and had a higher risk of death (48%) from the virus.
A team of researchers from UNC-Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, including lead author Barry Popkin, a professor in the Department of Nutrition and a member of the Carolina Population Center, worked with lead author Meera Shekar, a World Bank health and nutrition specialist , published on paper in Obesity Reviews.
For the paper, researchers reviewed immunological and biomedical data to provide a detailed layout of the mechanisms and pathways linking obesity to an increased risk of COVID-19, as well as an increased likelihood of developing more severe complications from the virus.
Obesity is already linked to numerous underlying risk factors for COVID-19, including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes in heart disease, and chronic kidney and liver disease.
Metabolic changes caused by obesity – such as insulin resistance and inflammation – make it difficult for people with obesity to fight some infections, a trend seen in other infectious diseases such as influenza and hepatitis.
During periods of infection, uncontrolled serum glucose, which is common in people with hyperglycaemia, can impair the function of immune cells.
“All of these factors can influence the metabolism of immune cells, which determines how bodies react to pathogens such as these SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus, ”says co-author Melinda Beck, professor of nutrition at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. “People with obesity are also more likely to have physical ailments that make it difficult to fight the disease, such as sleep apnea, which increases pulmonary hypertension, or a body mass index, which increases hospital intubation difficulties.”
Previous work by Beck and others has shown that the influenza vaccine is less effective in adults with obesity. The same could apply to a future SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, says Beck.
“However, we are not saying that the vaccine will be ineffective in obese populations, but that obesity should be viewed as a modifying factor in vaccine testing,” she says. “Even a less protective vaccine still offers some level of immunity.”
Approximately 40 percent of Americans are obese, and the resulting lockdown in the pandemic has created a number of conditions that make it difficult for individuals to achieve or maintain a healthy weight.
Working from home, cutting back on social visits, and cutting back on daily activities – all to stop the virus from spreading – means we are moving less than ever, says Popkin.
The ability to access healthy foods has also taken a hit. Economic difficulties further put those who are already food unsafe at risk and make them more vulnerable to conditions that can result from eating unhealthy foods.
“Not only are we more at home and more stressful due to the pandemic, but we also don’t visit the grocery store as often, which means the demand for highly processed junk food and sugary drinks that are cheaper and more storable – stable has increased,” he says. “These cheap, highly processed foods are high in sugar, sodium, and saturated fat, and loaded with highly refined carbohydrates, all of which increase the risk of excessive weight gain, as well as major noncommunicable diseases.”
Popkin, who is part of the Global Food Research Program at UNC-Chapel Hill, says the results highlight why governments need to address the underlying nutritional factors that contribute to obesity and implement stringent public health measures that have been shown to Reducing obesity at the population level.
Other countries like Chile and Mexico have passed policies ranging from taxing high-sugar foods to introducing warnings on packaged foods high in sugar, fat, and sodium, to restricting the marketing of junk food to children.
“Given the significant threat COVID-19 poses to people with obesity, healthy nutrition policies can play a supportive – and especially important – role in reducing COVID-19 mortality and morbidity,” he says.
Reference: “People with Obesity and COVID-19: A Global Perspective on Epidemiology and Biological Relationships” by Barry M. Popkin, Shufa Du, William D. Green, Melinda A. Beck, Taghred Algaith, Christopher H. Herbst, Reem F. Alsukait, Mohammed Alluhidan, Nahar Alazemi and Meera Shekar, August 26, 2020, Obesity Reviews.
DOI: 10.1111 / obr.13128
