Is the Flu Vaccine Good for Your Heart?

Researchers at the University of Texas-Houston report the need for regular influenza vaccination every year for people at risk for heart disease. Mohammad Madjid and his colleagues found that influenza is associated with an increased risk of death from a heart attack, and have published their results in today's issue of the European Heart Journal. Currently, only 60% of people in the U.S. who should have a flu vaccination actually get one, and this percentage is even lower in Europe. Madjid and his group estimate that up to 90,000 coronary deaths per year in the U.S. alone could be prevented if people at risk for heart attack and/or other heart problems received an influenza vaccination every fall.

Madjid's group, along with a collaborating group in St. Petersburg, Russia, investigated 8 years' worth of autopsy reports where the cause of death was complications of coronary heart disease. Of the 34,892 autopsy reports analyzed, 11,892 people died from acute myocardial infarction (AMI), while 23,000 people died from chronic ischemic heart disease (IHD). The researchers discovered that the majority of deaths occurred during peak flu seasons, with the chances of dying from AMI and IHD during epidemic weeks increasing by 33% and 10%, respectively, compared with non-epidemic weeks. These figures were irrespective of age or sex.

Madjid and his group believe that influenza, by raising the inflammatory response in individuals who suffer from coronary heart disease, serves to destabilize atherosclerotic plaques, leading to heart attacks. "Most people in Western countries live with different stages of atherosclerosis...one in three people with heart disease do not consider themselves at high risk for heart-related complications from influenza and therefore do not receive the annual flu shots," Madjid stated. "If people can recognize that the flu vaccine has specific cardioprotective effects, then high-risk people will be more likely to make sure that they receive the influenza vaccine every year."