Approximately 500,000 people worldwide die each year of severe influenza, or the flu. According to a study sponsored by the World Health Organization, and reported on by Medical News Today via the Journal of the British Medical Association, those who are obese, who were never before regarded as a high risk group, were found to have an increased risk of more severe outcomes, including death, from influenza. Researchers at McMaster University report that obese people face a three times greater risk of dying from influenza and should be given priority access to influenza vaccines. The study also reports that it is not clear whether obesity increases the risk of death from the flu or the co-existing conditions that tend to accompany being obese.