Aminian A, Tu C, Milinovich A, et al. - Researchers examined if a successful weight loss intervention is associated with improved risk and severity of COVID-19 infection in patients with obesity.

• A cohort study of 11,809 patients with obesity.

• Patients in the surgical group and control group had comparable rates of positive SARS-CoV-2 test results.

• Patients with previous weight loss surgery showed a 49% lower risk of hospitalization, 63% lower risk of need for supplemental oxygen, and 60% lower risk of severe disease during a 12-month period after contracting COVID-19 infection.

• Overall findings support the existence of an association between weight loss achieved with surgery and improved outcomes of COVID-19 infection, indicating the possibility of obesity to be a modifiable risk factor for the severity of COVID-19 infection.