Obesity is associated with a higher risk of developing severe symptoms and complications of coronavirus disease, independent of other illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease, according to researchers, who have alerted that it is a risk factor that needs attention.
In their article published in the latest journal of Current Science, the researchers said that obesity, a comorbidity not well documented in the Covid-19 pandemic, is now being identified as a risk factor for severe viral-19 infection, including in those less than 60 years of age.
“We suggest that weights and heights be recorded in all case-record forms and epidemiologic surveillance tools to assess the associations of body mass index with infection status and disease outcomes. Obese individuals should be closely monitored in view of the risk of increased severity of COVID-19 infection,” said Anurag Bhargava and Madhavi Bhargava, both from Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore.
Mortality in Covid-19 infection has been related to age and the presence of comorbidities, among which hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are the most common.
A recent meta-analysis showed that the pooled prevalence of hypertension, cardiovascular disease and diabetes was 16.3 per cent, 12.1 per cent and 7.8 per cent% respectively, in hospitalized patients, pointed out the researchers.
Obesity is one of the commonest underlying comorbidities worldwide. However, none of the studies in the systematic review mention the prevalence of obesity in the Covid-19 cases. Obesity is a potential confounder of the association between hypertension, diabetes and outcomes in Covid-19 infection, and should therefore be assessed, they added.
The researchers’ views came following observation that how obesity was identified as a novel risk factor for increased disease severity and mortality reported in the influenza A (H1N1) pandemic. “It is pertinent to note that obesity is also a risk factor for the severity of other viral infections like dengue fever in children.”
In the case of influenza A (H1N1) infection, later work highlighted several other implications of obesity which might be relevant to COVID-19 infection.
It would also be important to examine whether lower prevalence of obesity in countries like India is linked to lower mortality due to Covid-19 infection.
The database of patients with Covid-19 infection in India and other countries should have information on BMI. This will confirm the initial observations of obesity as a risk factor for severe Covid-19 infection in a larger number of patients.
It will also reveal whether a low BMI confers risk or protection against adverse outcomes in Covid-19 infection. Hence, obese individuals should be more careful about preventive measures during the pandemic, said the researchers.