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Review
. 2021 Mar;35(3):107817.
doi: 10.1016/j.jdiacomp.2020.107817. Epub 2020 Nov 26.

Impact of obesity on COVID-19 patients

Wanqi Yu  1 , Kristen E Rohli  2 , Shujuan Yang  3 , Peng Jia  4
Affiliations
Review

Impact of obesity on COVID-19 patients

Wanqi Yu et al. J Diabetes Complications. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

With the increasing prevalence of obesity, there is a growing awareness of its impact on infectious diseases. In past epidemics of influenza A and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, obesity has been identified as a risk factor influencing the severity of illness in infected persons. The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for a large number of deaths and health damages worldwide. Increasing numbers of reports have linked obesity to more severe COVID-19 disease and death. This review focuses on the impact of obesity on patients with COVID-19. We comprehensively analyzed the various mechanisms of obesity affecting the severity of the disease. In addition, on the basis of the vulnerability of people with obesity during the COVID-19 epidemic, we summarized both individual-level and hospital-level prevention and management measures for COVID-19 patients with obesity and discussed the impact of isolation on people with obesity.

Keywords: COVID-19; Management; Mechanism; Obesity.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of competing interest All authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Study exclusion and inclusion flowchart.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Mechanisms connecting obesity to COVID-19 severity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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