Obesity, which increases influenza disease severity, also extends influenza A virus shedding from infected adults compared with nonobese adults by about 1.5 days, according to a multiyear study of two cohorts of Nicaraguan households.
The findings implicate chronic inflammation caused by obesity as well as increasing age as reasons for extended viral shedding, which puts others at risk for infection.
The researchers, at the University of Michigan, coordinated the study in with colleagues at the