Neutralizing antibodies developed in anti-COVID vaccinations with the Pfizer & BioNTech vaccine could be reduced quantitatively in overweight or obese people, a new study shows.
The conclusion comes from Italian researchers at the Istituti Fisioterapici Ospitalieri in Rome, who found that 248 obese health workers who were vaccinated with Pfizer produced only about half the amount of antibodies in response to the second dose of serum, compared to healthy people, he writes The Guardian.
For this reason, scientists believe that a third dose of vaccine may be needed for this category of people in order to obtain the neutralizing antibodies needed for adequate protection against severe forms of COVID-19.
Neutralizing antibodies in small numbers predispose people with obesity to reinfection
In fact, it is already known that obesity (body mass index over 30) increases the risk of developing a severe form of COVID-19 by almost 50%, as well as the risk of hospitalization.
Another study, this time by Brazilian experts, shows that SARS-CoV-2 reinfection is more common among obese people. The reason – neutralizing antibodies developed as a result of the initial infection are smaller in number than in the case of people of normal weight.
9 out of 10 deaths caused by COVID-19 occurred in countries with a high rate of obesity
March 4 marked World Obesity Day, on which occasion the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a report anxious. According to him, 9 out of 10 deaths caused by COVID-19 occurred in countries with a high rate of obesity.
The link between obesity and COVID-19 mortality rates is now clear and convincing, said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
The report shows that 2.2 million of the 2.5 million deaths caused by COVID-19 worldwide occurred in countries with a high level of obesity and that those countries with a lower level of obesity do not have a high mortality rate. .
Obesity is a chronic disease, with complications that must be evaluated, monitored and treated by a multidisciplinary team. Contrary to many people’s beliefs, obesity is not so easy to cure.
In the treatment of obesity it requires specific medication, cognitive-behavioral therapy, carefully monitored diet, movement adapted to the patient’s ability to exercise and, ultimately, if all this does not work, bariatric surgery.
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