The Journal of Infectious Diseases

BRIEF REPORT

Obesity Increases the Duration of Both the duration and quantity of viral shedding influence
influenza transmission [4, 5]. Children are known to be import-
Influenza A Virus Shedding in Adults ant for influenza transmission, and young age has been associ-
Hannah E. Maier,1 Roger Lopez,3,5 Nery Sanchez,5 Sophia Ng,1 Lionel Gresh,5 ated with longer duration of shedding [6]. Shedding has also
Sergio Ojeda,5 Raquel Burger-Calderon,2,5 Guillermina Kuan,4,5 Eva Harris,2
been shown in paucisymptomatic and asymptomatic influenza
Angel Balmaseda,3,5 and Aubree Gordon1
cases, highlighting the transmission potential of less severe
1
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann
Arbor; 2Division of Infectious Diseases and Vaccinology, School of Public Health, cases [7].
University of California, Berkeley; and 3Centro Nacional de Diagnóstico y Referencia Obesity leads to altered immune function and chronic
and 4Centro de Salud Sócrates Flores Vivas, Ministry of Health, and 5Sustainable
Sciences Institute, Managua, Nicaragua inflammation, which increases with age, in addition to mechan-

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ical difficulties in breathing and increased oxygen require-
(See the Editorial Commentary Schultz-Cherry, on pages
ments [8–10]; these are plausible mechanisms by which obesity
1354–5.)
could alter influenza risk, severity, and transmission potential.
Epidemiologic studies indicate that obesity increases the risk of We hypothesize that this immune dysfunction could lead to a
severe complications and death from influenza virus infections, longer duration of influenza virus shedding, possibly increas-
especially in elderly individuals. This work investigates the effect of ing the transmission potential of infected individuals. While
obesity on the duration of viral shedding within household trans-
obesity is associated with severe influenza outcomes [1, 2], the
mission studies in Managua, Nicaragua, over 3 seasons (2015–
effect of obesity on less severe influenza infections and trans-
2017). Symptomatic obese adults were shown to shed influenza
mission dynamics has not been as well studied. Here, we use
A  virus 42% longer than nonobese adults (adjusted event time
ratio [ETR], 1.42; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.06–1.89); no household influenza transmission studies to examine the asso-
association was observed with influenza B virus shedding dura- ciation between obesity and influenza virus shedding duration.
tion. Even among paucisymptomatic and asymptomatic adults,
METHODS
obesity increased the influenza A  shedding duration by 104%
(adjusted ETR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.35–3.09). These findings suggest Study Population and Procedures
that obesity may play an important role in influenza transmission. This work uses data from 2 studies of households in the catch-
Keywords.  Influenza virus; obesity; viral shedding; pau- ment area of the Health Center Sócrates Flores Vivas (HCSFV)
cisymptomatic; asymptomatic; transmission; household; epide- in District II of Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Three influ-
miology; public health.
enza seasons are included: late 2015, 2016/2017, and mid/late
2017. The Household Influenza Transmission Study (HITS)
Epidemiologic studies indicate that obesity increases the risk of has a case-ascertained design, in which cases were identified
severe complications and death from influenza virus infections, from the HCSFV study clinic and their households enrolled; it
especially in elderly individuals [1, 2]. The global prevalence of provided data for the first 2 seasons. The Household Influenza
obesity has increased dramatically over the last few decades. Cohort Study (HICS) has the same design features as the HITS;
The regional burden varies widely—in 2014, the prevalence of it is nested within a prospective cohort study, in which enroll-
adult obesity in the United States was 35.5%, compared with ment occurs before the introduction of influenza to the house-
17.4% in Nicaragua and 4.4% in other low-income economies— holds. The HICS started in 2017 and provided data from the
but in every region, adult obesity is increasing, and the pace of 2017 influenza season. Height and weight measurements were
increase is accelerating [3]. collected at enrollment. Each measurement was taken twice; if
there was a difference of >5% between the 2 measurements, a
third was taken. Measurements were averaged.
Received 17 April 2018; editorial decision 8 May 2018; accepted 15 June 2018; published For both studies, participating household members were
online August 2, 2018. intensively monitored for 10–13 days once a symptomatic influ-
Correspondence: A. Gordon, PhD, 5622 SPH I, School of Public Health, 1415 Washington
Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2029 ([email protected]) enza case was identified in the household. A full description of
The Journal of Infectious Diseases®  2018;218:1378–82 the inclusion criteria has previously been published [6]. Daily
© The Author(s) 2018. Published by Oxford University Press for the Infectious Diseases symptom diaries were recorded for all participants and up to
Society of America. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ 5 combined nasal/oropharyngeal swab specimens, and tem-
by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any peratures were measured for each household contact during
medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the
work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact [email protected]
follow-up, regardless of symptoms. As with our other studies,
DOI: 10.1093/infdis/jiy370 if a participant visited the HCSFV study clinic while enrolled,

1378 • JID 2018:218 (1 November) • BRIEF REPORT

data from the visit were collected and were available for study age and sex, were used to calculate event time ratios (ETRs) to
use [11]. As described previously, all respiratory swab samples compare shedding duration in obese versus nonobese partic-
are tested by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction ipants [4, 5]. Statistical analyses were conducted in R, version
(RT-PCR) analysis following validated Centers for Disease 3.4.3 (available at: https://www.R-project.org/), using the pack-
Control and Prevention protocols for influenza A and B virus age “Survival” (https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=survival),
detection [6]. Subtype and lineage are obtained for all influenza to run the AFT models and to predict mean shedding dura-
A  and B virus–positive samples, respectively, through addi- tion accounting for age and sex; “SurvRegCensCov” (https://
tional RT-PCR assays. CRAN.R-project.org/package=SurvRegCensCov), to convert
the model output to ETRs; and “ggplot2” (http://ggplot2.org),
Ethics Statement for plotting.
These studies were approved by the institutional review
boards at the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health, the University of RESULTS
Michigan, and the University of California, Berkeley. Informed

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Study Population
consent or parental permission for minors was obtained from
In total, 1783 people in 320 households participated in inten-
all participants. Assent was obtained for children aged ≥6 years.
sive monitoring periods. The HITS contributed 800 participants
Weight Status
from the first 2 seasons, and the HICS contributed 983 partici-
Body mass index (BMI) z scores were calculated for children pants in 2017 who were enrolled in intensive monitoring peri-
<18 years old, based on the World Health Organization child ods. These individuals provided 7066 swab samples for testing,
growth standard for children aged <5  years and reference with a mean number of 4.0 swabs/participant. Symptoms were
for children aged 5–17  years [12, 13]. BMI was calculated reported for 15 905 days, with a median symptom diary dura-
for adults as the weight in kilograms divided by the height tion of 10 days. There were 340, 631, and 812 participants in age
in meters squared. Obesity was defined as a BMI of ≥30 in groups 0–4, 5–17, and 18–92 years, respectively. Sex ratios were
adults and as a BMI z score of >3 or >2 for children aged <5 approximately equal in children but not equally distributed in
or 5–17 years, respectively. Underweight was defined as a BMI adults, among whom 74% were women. The obesity prevalence
of <18.5 in adults and as a BMI z score of ≤2 in children. The varied significantly by age, with 2%, 9%, and 42% aged 0–4,
nonobese reference group was defined as those who were not 5–17, and 18–92 years, respectively.
underweight or obese. Secondary cases aged 5–92  years made up 287 of 694
RT-PCR–positive influenza cases (41.3%); of these, 4 (1.4%)
Shedding Duration were missing height and weight data, and 9 (3.1%) were under-
Shedding duration was defined as the time from illness onset to weight and were excluded from analysis, leaving 276 secondary
viral shedding cessation, as described previously [6]. Symptom cases. Prevalence of obesity was similar among these secondary
data were obtained from daily symptom diaries and clinic visits, cases as compared to the overall study population that partici-
and illness was defined as acute respiratory illness (ARI2) with pated in intensive monitoring periods (Supplementary Table 1).
at least 2 of the following symptoms: measured fever (tempera- Of the 276 secondary cases included in the analysis, 19.9%
ture >37.8°C) or reported fever, sore throat, cough, or runny were infected with 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus,
nose on any day. Illness onset was defined as the earlier of the 38% were infected with influenza A(H3N2) virus, and 42% were
day that symptoms first appeared or that RT-PCR results were infected with influenza B virus. Supplementary Figure 1 shows
positive; if there were gaps >2 days without symptoms, illness the epidemic curves by influenza virus type for each season
onset was defined as the first day of the symptomatic period (numbers are provided in Supplementary Table 2).
closest to the RT-PCR–positive event. Shedding cessation was
defined either as occurring in the interval between the last pos- Shedding Duration
itive RT-PCR result and subsequent negative RT-PCR result Children aged 0–4 years shed influenza virus 40% longer (crude
(interval censoring) or as right censored if the participant’s last ETR, 1.40; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22–1.60) and chil-
sample was RT-PCR positive. To minimize left censoring, we dren aged 5–17  years shed influenza virus 30% longer (crude
restricted this analysis to secondary cases. ETR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.15–1.48) than adults aged 18–92  years.
In sensitivity analyses, illness was also defined as RT-PCR pos- These trends were similar for both influenza A  and B viruses
itivity (regardless of symptoms) and as influenza-like illness (ILI; (Supplementary Table 3). However, influenza B virus shedding
defined as measured or reported fever with cough or sore throat). was longer and displayed larger variance than influenza A virus
shedding for all ages. Mean predicted influenza virus shedding
Statistical Methods duration was 7.7 days, 7.2 days, and 5.5 days for ages 0–4, 5–17,
Parametric accelerated failure time (AFT) models with Weibull and 18–92 years, respectively. Mean predicted shedding dura-
distributions, which can handle censored data, adjusted for tion among individuals aged 0–4, 5–17, and 18–92  years was

BRIEF REPORT • JID 2018:218 (1 November) • 1379

7.0, 6.4, and 5.1 days, respectively, for influenza A virus and 9.3, definition, and all associations increased when using the defi-
8.8, and 6.4 days, respectively, for influenza B virus. nition based on RT-PCR positivity regardless of symptoms
(Supplementary Table 5).
Obesity and Shedding Duration Obese individuals with influenza tended to have more symp-
Symptomatic obese adults shed influenza A  virus 42% lon- tomatic/severe illness, and fewer obese individuals had asymp-
ger (adjusted ETR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.06–1.89) than nonobese tomatic influenza, although the differences were not significant
adults, with predicted mean shedding times of 5.23 days versus (Supplementary Table  6). To examine whether the association
3.68 days. They also shed influenza A(H1N1) virus 43% longer of obesity and increased shedding duration existed among less
than nonobese adults (adjusted ETR, 1.43; 95% CI, 1.02–2.02). symptomatic adults, the same analyses were performed among
No association was observed between obesity and shedding dura- cases who had ≤1 symptom, not including fever. Of the 147 adult
tion for influenza B virus (Table 1 and Figure 1). Obesity was not influenza cases, 40.8% had ILI, 69.4% had ARI2, 11.6% were
associated with shedding duration in children aged 5–17 years paucisymptomatic (not including fever), and 17.7% were asymp-

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(Supplementary Table 4). There were not enough obese second- tomatic; among nonobese cases, 16.5% were paucisymptomatic,
ary cases aged <5 years old to include in this analysis. and 18.7% were asymptomatic, compared with 3.6% and 16.1%
Varying the shedding definition in sensitivity analyses did of obese cases, respectively. Among cases with ≤1 symptom not
not substantially influence our findings, although for influenza including fever, obese adults shed influenza A virus 104% longer
A(H3N2) virus, the association increased when using the ILI than nonobese adults (adjusted ETR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.35–3.09).

Table 1.  Accelerated Failure Time Models of Obesity and Shedding Duration Among Adult Secondary Influenza Cases Aged 18-92 Years, by Influenza Virus
Type and Strain

Variable Crude ETR (95% CI) Adjusteda ETR (95% CI) Predicted Shedding Duration, Mean Days (IQR)

Symptomatic illness (ARI2)

  All influenza viruses (n = 102)
  Nonobese Reference Reference 4.67 (2.82–6.93)
  Obese 1.14 (.86–1.50) 1.14 (.87–1.50) 5.32 (3.22–7.90)
  By influenza virus type
   A (n = 62)
   Nonobese Reference Reference 3.68 (2.41–5.13)
   Obese 1.42 (1.05–1.92) 1.42 (1.06–1.89) 5.23 (3.42–7.30)
  B (n = 40)
   Nonobese Reference Reference 6.55 (3.79–10.07)
   Obese 0.80 (.48–1.35) 0.82 (.49–1.39) 5.40 (3.13–8.30)
  By influenza A virus subtype
  H1N1 (n = 23)
   Nonobese Reference Reference 3.56 (2.65–4.49)
   Obese 1.75 (1.12–2.71) 1.43 (1.02–2.02) 5.10 (3.80–6.44)
  H3N2 (n = 39)
   Nonobese Reference Reference 3.77 (2.40–5.41)
   Obese 1.22 (.81–1.84) 1.23 (.91–1.98) 5.05 (3.21–7.24)
Paucisymptomaticb/asymptomatic illness
  All influenza viruses (n = 43)
  Nonobese Reference Reference 1.97 (1.31–2.72)
  Obese 1.55 (.91–2.65) 1.43 (.85–2.41) 2.81 (1.87–3.89)
  By influenza virus type
   A (n = 25)
   Nonobese Reference Reference 1.57 (1.26–1.87)
   Obese 2.35 (1.62–3.42) 2.04 (1.35–3.09) 3.21 (2.57–3.82)
  B (n = 18)
   Nonobese Reference Reference 2.37 (1.49–3.41)
   Obese 1.35 (.39–4.61) 1.07 (.30–3.81) 2.54 (1.60–3.65)

Abbreviations: ARI2, acute respiratory illness (see Methods for definition); CI, confidence interval; ETR, event time ratio; IQR, interquartile range.
a
Models adjusted for age and sex.
b
Paucisymptomatic cases have 1 symptom, not including fever

1380 • JID 2018:218 (1 November) • BRIEF REPORT

 A B
By Influenza Virus Type By Influenza Virus Subtype
3.00 3.00

2.00 2.00
1.50 1.50
1.25 1.25
1.00 1.00
0.80 0.80

0.50 0.50

A B H1N1 H3N2

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C Influenza A Virus
D Influenza B Virus
1.00 1.00
Proportion RT-PCR positive

Proportion RT-PCR positive

Nonobese Nonobese
Obese Obese
0.75 0.75

0.50 0.50

0.25 0.25

0.00 0.00
0 5 10 15 20 0 5 10 15 20
Days since illness onset Days since illness onset

Figure 1.  Association of obesity and influenza virus shedding in adults. A and B, Event time ratios adjusted for age and sex, by influenza virus type (A) and subtype (B),
among obese relative to nonobese adults. Red indicates ratios for influenza A virus, and blue indicates ratios for influenza B virus. Shapes refer to illness onset definition,
with circles indicating reverse transcription (RT-PCR)–based illness; triangles, acute respiratory illness (see Methods for definition); and squares, influenza-like illness. C and
D, Predicted shedding duration of influenza A virus (C) and influenza B virus (D), using the RT-PCR–based illness definition.

DISCUSSION In addition to studies of obesity and influenza severity, a

While previous studies identified obesity as a risk factor for recent study that sampled exhaled breath from college students
severe influenza outcomes [1, 2], we showed that obesity also with influenza for virus found an association between obesity
affects less severe outcomes by significantly increasing the and how much virus is shed. The authors noted that most par-
duration of influenza A  virus shedding in adults. Further, we ticipants had nasal shedding and that obesity was associated
found that, even in asymptomatic or mildly ill individuals, with increased aerosol-based shedding; however, they did not
obese adults shed influenza A virus for a longer duration than assess whether obese individuals shed virus for a longer dura-
nonobese adults. This has important implications for influenza tion than nonobese individuals [15].
transmission. Here we focus on shedding duration, but virus quantity is
No association was found with obesity and duration of influ- also important; both are assumed to be positively associated
enza B virus shedding. It is unclear why this association is with transmission, although the relationship was not found to
specific to influenza A virus, but it is consistent with previous be directly proportional within households and needs more
findings of obesity and severe influenza outcomes primarily for investigation [5]. Owing to differences in contact patterns and
influenza A(H1N1) virus [1, 2]. Human challenge studies also types, transmission occurs earlier within households than in
found more variability in influenza B virus shedding, compared the wider community, which may reduce the impact of shed-
with influenza A(H1N1) virus shedding [14]. Obesity was not ding duration on transmission in the household setting [4, 16].
associated with shedding duration in children 5–17 years old. Further analyses are underway to examine the effect of obesity
This is in agreement with the hypothesis that obesity increases on influenza transmission in Nicaraguan households.
the shedding duration through chronic inflammation. The This study had several limitations. Nose and throat samples
study was underpowered to assess this association in children were only collected every 2–3  days (interval censoring), and
aged <5 years. cases for whom final samples were RT-PCR positive were right

BRIEF REPORT • JID 2018:218 (1 November) • 1381

censored, preventing observation of the precise shedding cessa- for peace and food security. Rome: FAO, 2017. http://www.
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provided additional evidence on viral shedding, however, quan- the temporal distribution of secondary infections within
tification standards were not available at the time of testing. households of 2009 pandemic influenza A (H1N1): impli-
This work has identified obesity as an important predictor cations for influenza control recommendations. Clin Infect
of influenza A virus shedding duration in adults. Obesity may Dis 2011; 52(suppl_1):S123–S130.
play an important role in influenza transmission, especially as 5. Tsang TK, Cowling BJ, Fang VJ, et  al. Influenza A  virus
the prevalence of obesity rises, and may be an important target shedding and infectivity in households. J Infect Dis 2015;
for intervention and prevention strategies. Further, these results 212:1420–8.
add to existing evidence linking obesity to infectious diseases, 6. Ng S, Lopez R, Kuan G, et al. The timeline of influenza virus

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making it now even more important to work toward controlling shedding in children and adults in a household transmis-
and preventing the obesity epidemic. sion study of influenza in Managua, Nicaragua. Pediatr
Infect Dis J 2016; 35:583–6.
Supplementary Data 7. Ip DKM, Lau LLH, Leung NHL, et al. Viral shedding and
Supplementary materials are available at The Journal of Infectious transmission potential of asymptomatic and paucisymp-
Diseases online. Consisting of data provided by the authors to tomatic influenza virus infections in the community. Clin
benefit the reader, the posted materials are not copyedited and Infect Dis 2017; 64:736–42.
are the sole responsibility of the authors, so questions or com- 8. Mancuso P. Obesity and respiratory infections: does excess
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Notes
9. Milner JJ, Beck MA. Micronutrients, immunology and
Acknowledgments.  We thank the many dedicated study inflammation: the impact of obesity on the immune
personnel in Nicaragua at the Centro Nacional de Diagnóstico response to infection. Proc Nutr Soc 2012; 71:298–306.
y Referencia and the Sócrates Flores Vivas Health Center. 10. McClean KM, Kee F, Young IS, Elborn JS. Obesity and the
Financial support.  This work was supported by the lung: 1. Epidemiology. Thorax 2008; 63:649–54.
National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (award 11. Gordon A, Kuan G, Aviles W, et al. The Nicaraguan pediat-
R01 AI120997 and contract HHSN272201400006C) and the ric influenza cohort study: design, methods, use of technol-
Fogarty International Center (award K02TW009483), National ogy, and compliance. BMC Infect Dis 2015; 15:504.
Institutes of Health. 12. WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study Group. WHO
Potential conflicts of interest.  All authors: No reported con- child growth standards: length/height-for-age, weight-for-age,
flicts of interest. All authors have submitted the ICMJE Form weight-for-length, weight-for-height and body mass index-
for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Conflicts that for-age: methods and development. Geneva: World Health
the editors consider relevant to the content of the manuscript Organization, 2006:312. http://www.who.int/childgrowth/
have been disclosed. standards/technical_report/en/. Accessed 29 January 2018.
13. de Onis M, Onyango AW, Borghi E, Siyam A, Nishida C,
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1382 • JID 2018:218 (1 November) • BRIEF REPORT