Does influenza increase the risk of heart attacks?
As flu season approaches, the virus may not only leave people vulnerable to pneumonia, fever, and body aches, but it may also increase the risk of heart attacks, according to many studies, according to a Fox News report.
Those who had the flu were six times more likely to have a heart attack a week after testing positive than they had a year before or the following, according to a group of researchers from the Netherlands who presented their findings last spring at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (ECCMID) in Copenhagen.
As the American Heart Association (AHA) stated on its website, one report showed a sharp rise in cardiovascular-related deaths and influenza epidemics that occurred around the same time.
However, another study published in 2020 found that among more than 80,000 American adults hospitalized with influenza from 2010 to 2018, one in eight patients developed sudden and serious heart complications.
“A lot of studies have shown that there is an increased rate of serious heart disease and heart attacks after a person is infected,” Dr. Aaron Glatt, chief of medicine and infectious diseases at Mount Sinai South Nassau on Long Island, New York, told Fox News Digital. “With influenza.”
“Although the mechanism is not entirely clear, it may represent an inflammatory response to the influenza virus, which could lead to serious consequences – another good reason why influenza vaccination is recommended for adults,” Glatt added.
“When someone gets the flu, it creates additional stress on the body,” Dr. Frederick Davis, associate chief of emergency medicine at Northwell Health Long Island Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, told Fox News Digital. “During an injury, this can lead to higher temperatures as well as an increased heart rate, making your heart work harder.”
“This additional stress has been found to lead to an increase in heart complications after influenza, with an increase in heart attacks and worsening congestive heart failure,” Davis continued. “This is of particular concern in people who are older or have underlying heart disease.”
Health experts said that when someone gets the flu, the body has an inflammatory response to fight the virus.
Medical experts from the University of California explained on the university’s website that this can lead to blood clots, an increase in blood pressure, and sometimes swelling or scarring of the heart. This can create additional risks for those with a history of cardiovascular problems.
“If you have heart disease, fatty deposits called plaque build up in your arteries,” the UCLA website says. “The added pressure of the virus can cause the plaque to rupture, leading to a heart attack or stroke.”
The 2021 report, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, also said that getting the flu vaccine could reduce the risk of a common type of heart attack in people ages 60 and older.
Davis explained to Fox News Digital that when a person recovers from the flu, it is important to be aware of some signs that indicate the heart may be affected. He continued: “Shortness of breath may occur with minimal effort after other viral symptoms improve.”
The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology recommend getting the influenza vaccine to help prevent cardiovascular complications due to the virus, especially in people with coronary artery disease or other blood vessel diseases that cause atherosclerosis.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older receive the flu vaccine.
2023-11-14 15:54:18
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