Croix Bleue du Québec

5/5/2003 New York. NY : Flu shots may protect against heart disease and stroke in the elderly, according to a new study in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study looked at hospital records of 286,000 people over age 65, between 1998 and 2000 in New York, Minneapolis and Portland. Patients who received an anti-flu vaccine had a 19% reduction in their chance of being hospitalized for heart disease over the two-year period. For stroke, there was a reduction of 16% between 1998 and 1999 and a reduction of 23% between 1999 and 2000. The study also found that the immunized group spent a third less time in the hospital for pneumonia.

Ninety per cent of influenza-associated deaths occur in the elderly, says lead author Dr. Kristin Nichol of the Veterans' Affairs Medical Centre, Minneapolis. Dr. Anthony Graham, spokesperson for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, comments
"We can only speculate on how influenza vaccination may protect against heart disease and stroke. But the flu is an inflammatory process and there seems to be a connection between inflammation and heart disease and stroke. Anything that reduces inflammation could be cardio-protective."
"That is why it is a very good idea to have a flu shot every year – whether or not you have heart disease or are a stroke survivor," says Dr. Graham, a cardiologist at St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto.