Swine flu and obesity

Finallly, we have news about what 'underlying health problems' are. UHPs are usually blamed for spokesman for the reason why someone has died from swine flu - but they never say what the UHPs are. Now news comes from the French Institute for Public Health Surveillance that there are two main factors: pregnancy and obesity. The Guardian reports that "Where an underlying disease was found to be present after someone had died of swine flu, in more than one in four cases the deceased had a metabolic condition – diabetes and/or obesity". Diabetes has been mentioned before. So too has asthma but that doesn't seem to be a factor according to the latest report. Interestingly, the idea that children are most at risk also seems to be changing. The average age of those who have died to date is 37. The confirmation of pregnancy as a factor will reignite the debate as to whether women might decide not to get pregnant at the moment.

Did you know? Of the 104 deaths throughout Europe from swine flu, 65 of them are from the UK.