Obesity new risk factor for severe flu - blood clots in lungs picked up

SHOOT: It's odd that you can talk about flu causing multiple organ failure (also known as systemic failure) and spread the swine flu flu good news gospel that it's 'mild, don't panic'. Multiple organ failure means exactly that - that your lungs don't work, along with a series of other organs. I'm going to state the obvious now, but probably because I have to: to die of multiple organ failure isn't fun. You may die eventually by drowning in the liquid building up in your lungs, or from your whole body basically undergoings a sort of sepsis (turning to puss). This is also known as a cytokine storm. Google 'cytokine storm' and then say over and over to yourself: 'Don't Panic'.

REUTERS: Nine had multiple organ failure, which can be seen in influenza, but five had blood clots in the lungs, and six had kidney failure.

None has fully recovered, the researchers said.

clipped from www.reuters.com WASHINGTON, July 10 (Reuters) - People who are obese but otherwise healthy may be at special risk of severe complications and death from the new H1N1 swine flu virus, U.S. researchers reported on Friday. They described the cases of 10 patients at a Michigan hospital who were so ill they had to be put on ventilators. Three died. Nine of the 10 were obese, seven were severely obese, including two of the three who died. The study, published in advance in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's weekly report on death and disease, also suggests doctors can safely double the usual dose of oseltamivir, Roche AG's (ROG.VX) antiviral drug sold under the Tamiflu brand name. "What this suggests is that there can be severe complications associated with this virus infection, especially in severely obese patients," said CDC virus expert Dr. Tim Uyeki. Nine had multiple organ failure, which can be seen in influenza, but five had blood clots in the lungs, and six had kidney failure.