Emerging Infectious Diseases and Diagnosis Journal | 2021
High Risk of Severe Sars-Cov-2 in Patient with Obesity and Co-morbility: importance of early management from mechanical ventilation to rehabilitation in the Covid-19 Era
Abstract
COVID-19, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS Cov2), has resulted in 176 million infections and 3.8 million deaths by 16 June 2021, globally. Obesity, a critical risk factor for respiratory infection, is increasingly being recognized as a predisposing factor in the current coronavirus disease . This has important implications on global health as excess weight, usually represented by a raised body mass index (BMI), affects vast numbers of people worldwide: 39% of adults are overweight (BMI ≥25.0 to 29.9 kg/m2) and 13% have clinical obesity (BMI ≥30.0 kg/m2) globally. Obesity is associated with increased production of inflammatory cytokines such as TNF‐α, interleukins and interferons that characterize chronic low‐grade inflammation, which impair immune responses, both innate and adaptive. A hyper inflammatory response in which there are raised levels of interleukins and TNF‐α has been associated with increased mortality from COVID‐19. The prevalence of obesity in men and women increases with age. We explore in this Case Report the relationship between excess weight and response to infection with SARS‐CoV‐2, the severity and complications of COVID‐19 in a Italian patient with Severe Interstitial Pneumonia and co-morbilities.