How the flu vaccine could halve the risk of further cardiac arrest in heart attack patients

Anyone who has had a heart attack, no matter what time of year, should get a flu shot within 72 hours, two major studies suggest.

The researchers found that vaccinating heart disease patients against the winter beetle nearly halved their chances of dying from a second heart attack in the next 12 months, when the risk was highest.

Professor Naveed Sattar, from the Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences at the University of Glasgow, said: “The flu puts pressure on the arteries and thickens the blood, so if you have heart disease you can cross the heart attack threshold, slope.

And the chance of this happening again is highest in the first six to twelve months. This evidence suggests it’s a good idea not to wait until winter and get the flu shot right away.”

Patients who have had a heart attack or are being treated for heart disease have been advised to receive the NHS annual winter flu vaccine when it becomes available in October. But for some, this may mean waiting months, during which time they risk a second attack. Because the flu peaks in winter, infections can occur at any time of the year. The solution the studies suggest is to routinely vaccinate all heart attack patients while they recover in the hospital.

Scientists from the University of Orebro in Sweden followed around 3,000 heart attack patients from eight countries, including the UK.

Half received the flu shot within three days of hospitalization and the rest received a placebo.

Over the next 12 months, the number of cardiac deaths in those who got the flu shot was about 40 percent lower than in the placebo group.

The second survey, conducted by a research team from Peru, looked at data from more than 4,000 patients and found that the flu vaccine reduced the risk of dying from a second heart attack by 47%.

Scientists from the University of Orebro in Sweden followed around 3,000 heart attack patients from eight countries, including the United Kingdom.

Both studies found similar rates of second heart attacks, suggesting that the injection won’t stop them, but it can reduce the damage they do.

Leading British cardiologists welcomed the idea.

Professor Martin Cowie, consultant cardiologist at the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, said: ‘This is interesting and can be applied relatively easily in general practice.’