People with heart failure are significantly less likely to contract pneumonia, have cardiovascular complications or die if they receive an influenza vaccine, investigators say.
In a new study, researchers from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, tracked outcomes in more than 5,000 patients with heart failure in 10 low and middle income countries. It is the first clinical trial of the flu vaccine’s effectiveness in these patients, they noted.
Over a one-year period, being vaccinated for flu reduced the rate of pneumonia by 40% and hospitalization by 15% in these patients, the investigators found. What’s more, during the fall-winter influenza season, those who were vaccinated had 20% fewer deaths.
It is underappreciated how protective the influenza vaccine is against cardiovascular death, said study lead and infectious disease physician Mark Loeb, MD. Every year, 20% of patients with heart failure are hospitalized for cardiovascular complications such as heart attack and stroke, he noted.
“If you have heart failure, you should get your flu shot because it can save your life,” he said.
The study was published in The Lancet.
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