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Review
. 2015 Aug 26;33(36):4422-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.06.101. Epub 2015 Jul 8.

The weight of obesity on the human immune response to vaccination

Scott D Painter  1 , Inna G Ovsyannikova  1 , Gregory A Poland  2
Affiliations
Review

The weight of obesity on the human immune response to vaccination

Scott D Painter et al. Vaccine. .

Abstract

Despite the high success of protection against several infectious diseases through effective vaccines, some sub-populations have been observed to respond poorly to vaccines, putting them at increased risk for vaccine-preventable diseases. In particular, the limited data concerning the effect of obesity on vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy suggests that obesity is a factor that increases the likelihood of a poor vaccine-induced immune response. Obesity occurs through the deposition of excess lipids into adipose tissue through the production of adipocytes, and is defined as a body-mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m(2). The immune system is adversely affected by obesity, and these "immune consequences" raise concern for the lack of vaccine-induced immunity in the obese patient requiring discussion of how this sub-population might be better protected.

Keywords: Communicable diseases; Immunity; Immunization; Obesity; Vaccination.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing Interests

Dr. Poland is the chair of a Safety Evaluation Committee for novel investigational vaccine trials being conducted by Merck Research Laboratories. Dr. Poland offers consultative advice on vaccine development to Merck & Co. Inc., CSL Biotherapies, Avianax, Sanofi Pasteur, Dynavax, Novartis Vaccines and Therapeutics, PAXVAX Inc., Emergent Biosolutions, Vaxess, and Adjuvance. These activities have been reviewed by the Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest Review Board and are conducted in compliance with Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest policies. This research has been reviewed by the Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest Review Board and was conducted in compliance with Mayo Clinic Conflict of Interest policies.

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