Obesity Hinders Effectiveness of Vaccines
Reported November 29, 2005
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — A new study reveals obese women may not be getting the most out of injections and other vaccines.
Researchers from The Adelaide and Meath Hospital in Dublin, Ireland, discovered a majority of people — especially women — is not getting the proper dosage of injections, largely due to obesity. Researchers say they have identified a new problem related, in part, to the increasing amount of fat in patients’ buttocks. “Our study has shown that 68 percent of intramuscular injections do not reach the muscles of the buttock. The amount of fat tissue overlying the muscles exceeds the length of the needles commonly used for these injections,” study authors say.
Researchers studied 50 patients of all ages scheduled for computed tomography (CT) exams of the abdomen or pelvis. Prior to the CT exams, patients were given intramuscular injections. Researchers then analyzed the CT images and took body composition measurements.
Following injections, the examination of the body composition measurements revealed an overall 32-percent success rate, with men having a 56-percent success rate and women a mere 8-percent success rate. This means 23 women our 25 women didn’t receive injections into the muscle, which is most likely due to the fact that women typically have more fat in their buttocks than men.
Researchers say a longer needle length would help women receive the dosage and increase the success rate.
SOURCE: Annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America in Chicago, Nov. 26 – Dec. 2, 2005