TY - JOUR T1 - Obesity and susceptibility to severe outcomes following respiratory viral infection JF - Thorax JO - Thorax SP - 684 LP - 686 DO - 10.1136/thoraxjnl-2012-203009 VL - 68 IS - 7 AU - Mark H Almond AU - Michael R Edwards AU - Wendy S Barclay AU - Sebastian L Johnston Y1 - 2013/07/01 UR - http://thorax.bmj.com/content/68/7/684.abstract N2 - During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, obesity was convincingly identified as a novel, independent risk factor for multiple markers of disease severity. Associations between numerous nosocomial and community-acquired clinical infections have previously been established; yet, little is known about the mechanisms underpinning the increased susceptibility to severe outcomes following pandemic H1N1/09 infection in obesity. Here, we present a brief synthesis of the recent advances in our understanding of the immunomodulatory effects of obesity on outcomes following respiratory viral infection, with a particular focus on pandemic influenza. ER -