The fact that nearly two-thirds of U.S. adults are clinically obese is worrisome for a whole new reason: Evidence emerging from a hospital in Michigan (and published by the CDC) appears to indicate that obese patients may be very easily killed by swine flu.
In the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's report on death and disease, researchers documented the case of ten swine flu patients at a Michigan hospital who became so ill they were put on ventilators. Three of the patients ultimately died from the infection. The kicker? Nine of the ten were obese, and two of the three who died were severely obese.
As reported by Reuters, CDC virologist Dr. Tim Uyeki said, "What this suggests is that there can be severe complications associated with this virus infection, especially in severely obese patients."
Notably, five of the patients showed evidence of blood clots in their lungs, indicating severe cellular trauma in the lungs. Nine of the patients suffered from multiple organ failure, and six experienced kidney failure.
The question should be asked, can the hospitals handle an outbreak this fall?
The break down in other factors related to deaths from the swine flu.
An analysis of 99 US residents who died of swine flu revealed that 11% had asthma, 24% had other lung diseases, 13% had diabetes, 11% were morbidly obese, and 34% were obese.
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