Flu linked to deaths from heart attack and heart disease

By David Liu

A new study suggests that people infected with flu virus may be at higher risk for having a heart attack, particularly those who have heart disease and diabetes.

The British study published in the October 2009 issue of The Lancet Infectious Diseases also found that vaccines were linked to reduced risk of people with flu dying from heart attack.

Andrew C. Hayward, at the UCL Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology in London, reviewed 39 studies conducted between 1932 and 2008 for the association between flu and death from heart attack.

The studies found 30 to 50 percent more deaths from heart disease and heart attacks during flu season than other seasons.

Previous studies have found that people are more likely to die from heart disease during flu season because they are more likely vitamin D deficient during this period. Low levels of this sunshine vitamin have been linked to higher risk of death from cardiovascular events.

Considering that the efficacy of flu vaccine is often low, less than 50 percent, people would be better off taking vitamin D supplements, which may reduce the risk of dying from heart disease by 300 percent, according to recent studies.

Heart disease is the number one killer in the United States while flu and it kills more than 910,000 Americans each year, according to the American Heart Association.

In comparison, flu and its complications (mostly pneumonia) kill about 30,000 people each year meaning that the effect of flu infection on deaths from heart attacks or heart disease may be insignificant.