Influenza vaccination helps reduce the risk of hospitalization and death in heart failure patients, a study has found.
Heart failure is a problem with the function of the left ventricle of the heart, which pumps blood throughout the body, resulting in insufficient blood supply to all organs and tissues in the body. 50% of patients die within 5 years and 20% are hospitalized due to cardiovascular complications. It is known.
A research team led by Mark Rep, professor of pathology at McMaster University School of Medicine in Canada, analyzed data from clinical trials conducted between 2015 and 2021 involving more than 5,000 heart failure patients in 10 countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, where flu vaccination rates are low. As a result, this fact was revealed, reported on the 17th by EurekAlert, a science news site of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Trial participants were given either a flu vaccine or a dummy vaccine each year during the flu season.
This first-ever clinical trial was conducted under the auspices of the UK’s Joint Global Health Trials Scheme and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
The results showed that patients with heart failure who received the flu vaccine had a 20% lower risk of death and a 15% lower risk of hospitalization during the fall and winter flu season than those who did not receive the flu vaccine, the research team said.
The incidence of pneumonia, which is known to be associated with heart failure, was also reduced by 40%.
It has long been known that flu infection is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the researchers note.
The study results were published in the latest issue of Lancet Global Health, a British medical journal.
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