Flu Vaccine Reduces Risk for Cardiovascular Events, Even With Breakthrough Infection

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By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com

via HealthDay

FRIDAY, April 10, 2026 -- Influenza vaccination may offer cardiovascular protection even when it does not prevent infection, according to a study published online April 2 in Eurosurveillance.

Roberto Croci, from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control in Sweden, and colleagues quantified the short-term cardiovascular risk within a week after laboratory-confirmed influenza infection and assessed whether vaccination attenuates risk. The analysis included 1,221 individuals (age 40 years and older) with a first-ever hospital admission for acute myocardial infarction (AMI) or stroke within 365 days of a polymerase chain reaction-confirmed influenza infection.

The researchers found that the 1,221 individuals contributed 1,231 influenza infection episodes, of which 610 (50 percent) were categorized as vaccinated and 621 (50 percent) were categorized as unvaccinated. After adjusting for calendar month, risk for cardiovascular events was elevated (overall incidence rate ratio [IRR], 3.5), particularly for AMI (IRR, 4.7) versus stroke (IRR, 2.9). There was significant reduction in the excess risk for AMI or stroke associated with influenza infection for those with prior influenza vaccination during the same influenza season.

"Hospital admissions for heart attack and stroke were more frequent in the first week after testing positive for influenza than during any other period in the year before and after their test," the authors write. "This increased risk was about half as high among people who tested positive for influenza but had received the influenza vaccine that season."

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Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

Source: HealthDay

Posted : 2026-04-11 01:45

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