Obesity prolongs the flu infection

Article overview:

• Research has shown that obese people tend to carry the influenza A virus longer than their normal weight counterparts.
• Even when the obese subjects had mild cases of flu, they found that obese participants excreted the virus 104 percent longer than their slimmer counterparts.
• Work on losing weight by taking a pathogen destruction formula at the first sign of flu symptoms to improve your body's ability to clear the virus faster.

Research on viruses and obesity

If you are significantly overweight, you should take additional measures to protect yourself from the virus and flu. This is because research suggests that people with obesity are more likely to have prolonged illnesses and are more contagious.

The study, conducted at the University of Michigan's School of Public Health at Ann Arbor, found that obese people tend to carry the influenza A virus longer than their normal-weight counterparts, which has the potential for worse infection as well creates a significantly higher transmission to others. These results are based on information collected on 1,783 men, women and children in Managua, Nicaragua. The data was collected during three flu seasons that occurred in 2015, 2016 and 2017.

Subjects were monitored for a period of 10 to 13 days whenever a household member developed symptoms of flu, and samples were taken from the nose and throat of each panel and tested for the presence of flu virus RNA. The researchers found that the overweight volunteers took 42 percent longer to clear the flu virus than their normal weight peers. Virus shedding refers to the presence of the virus in body fluids that can be passed on to others.

Obesity leads to a longer recovery from the flu

Even if the overweight patients had only mild cases of flu, it took longer to recover. And it wasn't a small difference either. Investigators found that obese participants had virus shedding 104 percent longer than their slimmer counterparts.

The study is somewhat limited by the fact that the researchers only tested the influenza A virus and did not include influenza B. Both are versions of the flu, but influenza A is the one that is typically associated with moderate to severe illness and widespread epidemics while influenza B is typically milder. So far, no more serious viruses such as CORVID-19, SARS or MERS have been examined.

Interestingly, there is also no evidence in research that obesity has a similar effect on the flu in children. However, the results correlate with previous research that showed obesity may have an impact on the severity of the flu. A 2013 study in the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in the Jamaica Plain found obesity to be an independent risk factor for severe outbreak influenza.

Lose weight to combat flu symptoms

What does it all mean for you? If you are overweight or obese, it means that you may want to change your lifestyle and lose weight in preparation for your next cold or flu. Of course, the flu isn't the only reason you should shed excess pounds. It also means that you are more likely to get a milder case of this and be sick for a shorter period of time.

Until recently, most people thought the flu was just another fall and winter mistake to avoid. However, as we have learned, especially in the elderly and people with chronic illnesses, the flu can be extremely serious and lead to complications such as pneumonia, seizures, and death.

And even if you are not overweight, prevention is the best strategy when it comes to the flu. There are many safe methods of preventing transmission that are far more effective than flu vaccines, which often don't even contain the strain that is hanging around. First, wash your hands frequently with soap and water to remove any germs you come in contact with and count to 20 in your head to make sure you wash long enough to have an effect.

Taking a natural immune system booster containing herbs like echinacea and astragalus root can aid your body's efforts to fight off infection. Taking a pathogen destruction formula at the first sign of flu symptoms can improve your body's ability to clear the virus. And don't forget that we become infected with the flu when we are exposed to other contagious people. So try to limit contact with people who have symptoms such as runny nose, sneezing, and coughing. If you are concerned about the coronavirus, check out Jon Barron's step-by-step guide on how to protect yourself from CORVID-19.