Getting a flu shot has been shown to reduce the risk of early death in patients with heart failure. The flu can worsen heart failure symptoms and increase the risk of hospitalization and death. Getting a flu shot can prevent these complications and protect heart failure patients from a serious illnesses. It is important for individuals with heart failure to speak with their healthcare provider about the importance of getting a flu shot as part of their overall treatment plan.
The influenza vaccine reduced pneumonia by 40% and hospitalization by 15% in patients with heart failure over the course of the year, according to the study. During the fall and winter influenza seasons, the influenza vaccine reduced deaths by 20% in these patients. Flu shots can save the lives of people with cardiovascular disease by reducing cardiac complications as well as preventing influenza.
An international study led by McMaster University researchers and published in The Lancet Global Health found that influenza vaccines significantly reduce both pneumonia and cardiovascular complications in people with heart failure.
Most importantly, we looked at low and middle-income countries, which account for 80% of cardiovascular disease and have low flu vaccination rates. If you have heart failure, you should get your flu shot because it can save your life – that is what we found in this study.
Mark Loeb
“If you have heart failure, you should get your flu shot because it can save your life – that is what we found in this study,” said the study’s principal investigator Mark Loeb. Loeb is a McMaster professor of pathology and molecular medicine and a Hamilton infectious disease physician and microbiologist.
“It is underappreciated that influenza vaccine can prevent cardiovascular death,” he adds. The influenza vaccine reduced pneumonia by 40% and hospitalization by 15% in patients with heart failure over the course of a year, according to the study. During the fall and winter influenza seasons, the influenza vaccine reduced deaths in these patients by 20%.
During the flu season, data revealed that the vaccine also helped protect against cardiovascular complications such as heart attacks and strokes. In this collaborative clinical trial conducted by McMaster, the Population Health Research Institute of McMaster, and Hamilton Health Sciences, researchers followed over 5,000 patients with heart failure in ten countries across Africa, Asia, and the Middle East where few people receive regular influenza vaccination. Between June 2015 and November 2021, they were given either an influenza vaccine or a placebo.
While the flu has long been linked to an increased risk of life-threatening cardiovascular events, according to Loeb, people with heart failure are already predisposed to poor health outcomes. Patients with the condition have a 50% chance of dying within five years, and 20% are hospitalized each year for cardiovascular complications.
“Most importantly, we looked at low and middle-income countries, which account for 80% of cardiovascular disease and have low flu vaccination rates.”
Salim Yusuf, executive director of PHRI and one of the study’s authors, stated: “Given how simple, inexpensive, and safe the flu shot is, it should be standard practice in people with heart failure. It is very cost effective to avoid one-sixth of heart disease deaths and hospitalizations, which can have a significant public health and clinical impact.”
The study is the first clinical trial of the flu vaccine’s effectiveness in heart failure patients.
