A meta-analysis suggests those who receive a flu vaccine also reduce their heart attack risk and other cardiovascular issues.
That is the finding of Bahar Behrouzi at the University of Toronto and her colleagues after a meta-analysis of the results of six clinical trials involving flu vaccines conducted between 2000 and 2021. These involved a total of over 9000 people.
The researchers wanted to find out whether having a flu vaccine reduced the chance of developing cardiovascular conditions, such as angina, stroke and heart attack risk.
“We found influenza vaccination protected significantly against heart attacks,” said the study’s lead author, UNSW Professor Raina MacIntyre, in a statement at the time.
The research, published in the journal Heart, found that influenza “may be an unrecognised precipitant of heart attacks”.
“The influenza vaccination rate in patients with heart attack was low,” says Professor MacIntyre, who is also head of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
Previous research “indicates that infections such as flu might encourage blood to thicken or prompt an inflammatory response in arteries that are already diseased, sparking the development of a blockage”. “The influenza vaccination rate in patients with heart attack was low,” says Professor MacIntyre, who is also head of the School of Public Health and Community Medicine.
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