Obesity linked to increased susceptibility to COVID-19 infection, reports study

A study finds an increased risk of developing a productive SARS-CoV-2 infection in obese people. Obesity is known to predict worse outcomes and higher mortality for those with COVID-19. Masanori Aikawa and colleagues sought to determine if obesity also affected the likelihood of getting ill in the first place. To investigate, the authors analyzed electronic medical records for 687,813 patients from the Mass General Brigham healthcare system, including 72,613 individuals with suspected SARS-CoV-2 exposure, 18,447 of whom tested positive.

The authors limited their data to a timeframe before vaccination became widespread in Massachusetts, to avoid the possible confounding factor of variable vaccine response. The authors compared the likelihood of testing positive upon suspected exposure for obese individuals with that of non-obese individuals. The authors found significantly increased susceptibility in obese individuals, with 34% higher odds of SARS-CoV-2 positivity in the obese population.

This pattern held across ages and sexes. According to the authors, this knowledge could help communities distribute resources toward individuals at higher risk for SARS-CoV-2 positivity.

Reference:

Joan T Matamalas, Sarvesh Chelvanambi, Julius L Decano, Raony F França, Arda Halu, Diego V Santinelli-Pestana, Elena Aikawa, Rajeev Malhotra, Masanori Aikawa, Obesity and age are transmission risk factors for SARS-CoV-2 infection among exposed individuals, PNAS Nexus, Volume 3, Issue 8, August 2024, pgae294, https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae294