translated from Spanish: COVID-19 vaccine may be less effective in people with obesity

home Mexico COVID-19 vaccine may be less effective in people with obesity

Mexico.- Multiple studies in the past have found that some vaccines tend to be less effective in people with obesity than in people with an average weight. And the coronavirus vaccine would be no different according to several scientists interviewed by CNN. If this is the case, it doesn’t look very good for Mexico and the United States, the two countries with the highest rates of obesity in adults.
Scientists have found that flu, tetanus, hepatitis B and rabies vaccines may offer less protection in people with obesity.
Scientists aren’t sure, but it’s thought that this condition can interfere with the functioning of the immune system.
We now know that obesity plays an important role in the development of cancer as well as cardiovascular disease. According to new discoveries in the field of immunometabolism, obesity could also interfere with the immune system’s response, putting people at increased risk of infections caused by pathogens such as influenza or, in this case, coronavirus.
When the immune system discovers a threat it reacts causing inflammation in the body, and uses it to send white blood cells and other cells to fight the disease. Vaccines also take advantage of this reaction to get into operation. The detail is that people with obesity (who often have high blood pressure levels or high blood sugar levels) often have a permanent state of inflammation in their body. “Chronic inflammation seems to interfere with the immune response of vaccines, possibly making people more likely to get obese even after they are vaccinated.”
Older adults are another sector of the population that often reacts with little success to traditional vaccines. That’s why getting more antigens when vaccinated. That’s why it’s striking that there’s no more research and special vaccines for those who are overweight. “The flu vaccine will work well in obese patients, only it won’t work as well. Still, it’s still the right thing to wear it,” the experts said.

Original source in Spanish