A study found that getting the flu could lower the risk of middle-aged people having a heart attack or stroke.
Those vaccinated over the age of 50 were 28 percent less likely to have a heart attack and faced a 47 percent lower chance of a mini stroke.
Scientists called the results, based on data from 7 million people, “astonishing” and said they shed light on how beneficial the flu jab can be.
Protects against getting sick with the flu, but also against the life-threatening complications that accompany it.
Being infected with influenza can subject the body to a great deal of stress, which in rare cases can lead to heart attacks and strokes.
But many people are unaware of these serious dangers, doctors say, and don’t bother getting vaccinated.
It comes after yesterday’s research suggested that flu vaccines may reduce the chance of developing Alzheimer’s.
A study has found that those over 50 could avoid a heart attack or a potentially fatal stroke by catching the flu.
The research, conducted by Texas Tech University, looked at more than seven million American adults over the age of 50.
All had been hospitalized at some point and were part of the 2014 National Inpatient Sample, the largest database of US hospitals.
Participants were noted to be particularly vulnerable to influenza because they were over 50 years old, had HIV / AIDS, lived in nursing homes, or were obese.
Experts examined cardiovascular outcomes between patients who were vaccinated during hospitalization and those who were not.
Adults older than 50 years who were vaccinated performed better in the year after vaccination.
They had a 28% lower risk of heart attack, a 47% lower risk of TIA, a “mini stroke”, and an 85% lower risk of cardiac arrest.
Similar trends were observed among people in the other high-risk groups, but these findings have not yet been reported.
There is evidence that heart attacks and strokes occur more frequently during or immediately after an acute inflammatory disease, such as the flu, but it is not common.
Any lung disease puts pressure on the vascular system, so to reduce the risk of heart disease or stroke, preventing the flu could help.
A large 2007 study found that winter infections like the flu can double the risk of heart attacks and strokes, and victims are twice as likely to be affected in the week after becoming infected.
The comprehensive study was carried out by scientists from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Medical Statistics Unit who examined two million registered patients with approximately 500 GPs.
Among approximately 11,000 heart attack cases, 84 people had a respiratory infection the previous week (0.8 percent) and in controls, compared to 34 of 11,000 people in the control group (0.3 percent).
Flu vaccination has already been linked to lower rates of cardiac events among people with heart disease, who have a higher risk of becoming more seriously ill with the flu than the general population.
The first results of the latest study, led by Roshni Mandania, were presented at the virtual scientific sessions of the American Heart Association of Cardiovascular Sciences 2020 2020.
Ms Mandania said: ‘The results we found are amazing. It’s hard to ignore the positive effect that the flu shot can have on serious heart complications.
“Some people do not consider flu shots to be necessary or important, and many may face barriers to accessing health care, including the flu shot.”
Of the seven million patients studied, only 168,325, or 2.4 percent, had received the flu shot.
Preliminary results show that vaccination rates were lower in high-risk groups than in the general population.
Adults 50 years of age and older were significantly less likely to be vaccinated compared to the general population (1.8 percent versus 15.3 percent).
The vaccination rate for HIV / AIDS patients was 2.21 percent versus 8.2 percent who were virus or disease free.
Only 1.8 percent of nursing home residents received their jab, compared to 9.5 percent among those who live independently.
And among obese patients, only 2.4 percent were vaccinated, compared to nine percent of adults who are considered to be at a healthy weight.
Some people may have received the flu shot in an outpatient setting and therefore are not recorded in the hospital data.
“However, our study highlights the marked underutilization of influenza vaccine in high-risk groups and underscores the need for a health care policy initiative to increase influenza vaccines among all patients and especially in groups of high risk, “said Mandania.
Dr. Eduardo Sánchez, director of medical prevention for the American Heart Association, said: ‘All adults and all children, in general, should be vaccinated against the flu year after year.
‘In particular, for patients who have chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or emphysema, it is vitally important to receive the annual flu shot.
“The potentially serious complications of the flu are much, much greater for people with chronic illnesses.”
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