Obese people are potentially more contagious than lean COVID-19 patients for a number of reasons, including that in past studies, obese individuals have taken longer to shed the influenza virus than leaner subjects, meaning they may have been contagious for longer. Secondly, obese people have proven to take longer to produce immune responses at the cellular level needed to fight to viral infections, which allows viruses to replicate more rapidly in the body, they write. For these reasons, the researchers suggest that until a vaccine is available, obese individuals should self-quarantine for double the duration of non-obese people if they have—or think they have—coronavirus. Critical quote“Quarantine should be prolonged in obese with respect to lean subjects, presumably doubled,” the researchers write. Chief CriticResearch suggesting a relationship between severe and fatal COVID-19 and obesity is flawed and based on limited evidence, according to Wired.

Source: Forbes May 11, 2020 16:37 UTC