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Seasonal influenza virus infection affects a large proportion of the population and is associated with mortality in certain population groups. The recent H1N1 influenza virus has been characterized as pandemic, and it appears to have a distinct pattern in terms of the population that is affected. Multiple studies analyzing the patient profile in the H1N1 pandemic have indicated that obesity is strongly associated with severity of disease [1–4]. Indeed, independent studies from several countries have shown that a large fraction of individuals infected with H1N1 who were admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) had an increased body mass index (typically 130) and that the morbidity rate among all obese patients who were admitted to an ICU with H1N1 infection was increased [2–4]. Although the risk of complications, including severe infection, in ICUs is increased in obese patients [5], recent studies on H1N1 infection have shown that the severity of the response to the virus is strikingly increased in this pop-ulation. Obesity as a risk factor for influenza-associated critical illness has not been described in previous pandemics or in seasonal influenza epidemics.

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Major Articles and Brief Reports > Viruses > Perspective
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