Regular flu vaccination might save heart failure patients

London: Annual flu vaccination is regarded as a safe and low-cost way to improve survival rate among elderly heart failure patients, according to a new research. The findings showed that flu vaccination was associated with an 18 percent reduced risk of premature death and a 19 percent reduction in both all-cause and cardiovascular death when compared with no vaccination. Getting a flu shot less than once per year but more than not at all was associated with a 13 percent reduced risk of all-cause death and an 8 percent reduced risk of cardiovascular death. “Recent studies have indicated that the influenza vaccination coverage of patients with heart failure is inadequate,” said lead author Daniel Modin, an investigator from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark. Influenza can be very serious or even fatal for patients with heart failure because heart failure patients are often older than 65, have compromised circulation and other health complications, and infection may exacerbate heart failure symptoms. Though the research only looked at patients with newly-diagnosed heart failure, the protection from a flu shot is likely to benefit any patient with heart failure, Modin noted. (IANS)

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