New York—Another benefit getting of an annual influenza vaccine has been identified. Flu immunization has now been shown to reduce the risk of acute myocardial infarction (MI) in hospitalized patients.
A presentation at the American College of Cardiology’s 68th Annual Scientific Session reports on a study using nearly 30 million hospital records. Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West documented that hospitalized patients receiving a flu shot while hospitalized had a 10% lower risk of having a heart attack that year compared with inpatients who were not vaccinated during their stay.
“You don’t need to be a medical professional to see this data and understand the importance of getting the flu vaccine,” said Mariam Khandaker, MD, internal medicine resident at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West and the study’s lead author. “The flu vaccine should be considered primary prevention for heart attack, just like controlling your blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol."
The retrospective cohort study used the 2014 United States’ National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database to study the relationship between influenza vaccination and the prevalence of MI in hospitalized adults. The more than 29 million patients were divided into two groups—those who received influenza vaccination in 2014 (defined by the corresponding ICD-9-CM diagnosis code) and those who did not.
The primary outcome was defined as MI, including both ST- and non–ST-segment elevation MI, as well as unstable angina.
Researchers note that the raw data showed a lower prevalence of MI in vaccinated patients—3.4% versus 4.4%—but after adjustment for confounding variables, the adjusted odds ratio for MI was calculated to be 0.91 (95% CI 0.87-0.96) in vaccinated patients compared with nonvaccinated ones.
The study found that about 2% of patients had received a flu shot while hospitalized, and 98% had not, although the dataset did not include flu shots received outside of a hospital setting. Overall, vaccinated patients had about 5,000 fewer cases of heart attacks than would have been expected without the vaccine.
“In the 2014 NIS database, adult patients with influenza vaccination were associated with a statistically significantly lower prevalence of MI compared to non-vaccinated patients,” the study authors write. “This is consistent with other initial studies and suggests that influenza vaccination may be useful as a preventative measure for MI.”
“By getting the flu vaccine, you can help to prevent this cascade of events from taking place and, thus, prevent a heart attack,” Khandaker added. "While a person can still contract some strains of influenza even after getting a flu shot, the vaccine can lower the severity of the illness and, thus, still potentially help to prevent a heart attack.”
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A presentation at the American College of Cardiology’s 68th Annual Scientific Session reports on a study using nearly 30 million hospital records. Researchers from Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s and Mount Sinai West documented that hospitalized patients receiving a flu shot while hospitalized had a 10% lower risk of having a heart attack that year compared with inpatients who were not vaccinated during their stay.
“You don’t need to be a medical professional to see this data and understand the importance of getting the flu vaccine,” said Mariam Khandaker, MD, internal medicine resident at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai St. Luke's and Mount Sinai West and the study’s lead author. “The flu vaccine should be considered primary prevention for heart attack, just like controlling your blood pressure, diabetes and cholesterol."
The retrospective cohort study used the 2014 United States’ National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database to study the relationship between influenza vaccination and the prevalence of MI in hospitalized adults. The more than 29 million patients were divided into two groups—those who received influenza vaccination in 2014 (defined by the corresponding ICD-9-CM diagnosis code) and those who did not.
The primary outcome was defined as MI, including both ST- and non–ST-segment elevation MI, as well as unstable angina.
Researchers note that the raw data showed a lower prevalence of MI in vaccinated patients—3.4% versus 4.4%—but after adjustment for confounding variables, the adjusted odds ratio for MI was calculated to be 0.91 (95% CI 0.87-0.96) in vaccinated patients compared with nonvaccinated ones.
The study found that about 2% of patients had received a flu shot while hospitalized, and 98% had not, although the dataset did not include flu shots received outside of a hospital setting. Overall, vaccinated patients had about 5,000 fewer cases of heart attacks than would have been expected without the vaccine.
“In the 2014 NIS database, adult patients with influenza vaccination were associated with a statistically significantly lower prevalence of MI compared to non-vaccinated patients,” the study authors write. “This is consistent with other initial studies and suggests that influenza vaccination may be useful as a preventative measure for MI.”
“By getting the flu vaccine, you can help to prevent this cascade of events from taking place and, thus, prevent a heart attack,” Khandaker added. "While a person can still contract some strains of influenza even after getting a flu shot, the vaccine can lower the severity of the illness and, thus, still potentially help to prevent a heart attack.”
« Click here to return to Weekly News Update.
