Westfield Public Health Bulletin: Study finds infection resistance among benefits of exercise

The bright, warm sunshine is beckoning you outdoors for a walk, a hike, a run, a swim or a bicycle ride. A recent CDC study shows that regular aerobic and muscle strengthening exercise significantly lowers the risk of death from flu or pneumonia. You can start preparing for next year to beat the severe outcomes of seasonal infectious illnesses including influenza, pneumonia, RSV, strep and COVID-19.

Study participants were followed for nine years. People who engaged in 150 minutes per week of aerobic and muscle strengthening exercise had a 48% lower risk of death from flu or pneumonia. Those who were active, but less than the guidelines, were also less likely to die. Those who only met the aerobic-only guidelines were 36% less likely to succumb. If you only did strength training exercise without aerobic, there was no difference in death rate compared with inactive individuals.

Influenza causes 27-54 million illnesses a year, 12-26 million medical visits, 300,000-650,000 hospitalizations and 19,000-58,000 deaths. These numbers are reported in ranges because flu surveillance does not capture all cases of influenza, therefore the CDC calculates estimates. Over one million adults fall ill to pneumonia yearly and 50,00 die.

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