Could Common Flu Put You at Risk for a Heart Attack? New Study Says Yes…
According to a recent Dutch study, individuals who are diagnosed with the flu may face a six-fold increase in their risk of having a heart attack in the week following a positive diagnosis compared to the year before or after.
This finding, which is consistent with a previous Canadian study, highlights a potential link between flu and heart health. However, the Canadian study did not consider out-of-hospital deaths from heart attacks.
The new study, which will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology & Infectious Diseases, suggests that there may be a significant association between flu and heart attacks that warrants further investigation.
To paint a more comprehensive picture of the potential link between flu and heart attacks, Dr. Annemarijn de Boer from the Julius Center for Life Sciences and Primary Care at UMC Utrecht in the Netherlands conducted a study using data from 16 laboratories, covering roughly 40% of the Dutch population.
The study analyzed 26,221 confirmed cases of influenza between 2008 and 2019 and found that 401 individuals experienced at least one heart attack within a year of their flu diagnosis, resulting in a total of 419 heart attacks.
Of these heart attacks, 25 occurred within the first week after the flu diagnosis, 217 occurred in the year before the diagnosis, and 177 occurred in the year after the diagnosis (excluding the first seven days).
Of the 401 individuals who experienced at least one heart attack within a year of their flu diagnosis, around a third (139) died from any cause during that same year. The researchers found that individuals in the study were 6.16 times more likely to have a heart attack in the seven days following a flu diagnosis compared to the year before or after.
This result is similar to the Canadian study, which found a figure of 6.05. However, when the researchers excluded data from death records, as was done in the Canadian study, the increase in heart attack risk during the first week dropped to 2.42 times. This suggests that incomplete data can have a significant impact on study findings.
The researchers note that differences in testing practices between the Netherlands and Canada may help explain why they observed a weaker association between flu and heart attacks compared to the Canadian study. Specifically, testing for flu in out-of-hospital settings is less common in the Netherlands.
Nonetheless, using a similar methodology to the Canadian team, the Dutch researchers were able to confirm that the increase in heart attack risk applies across different populations, indicating a significant association between flu and heart health.
The influenza virus is known to increase the coagulation or clotting of blood, along with causing inflammation as part of the body’s immune response. These factors may weaken fatty plaques in the arteries, potentially leading to a heart attack if a plaque ruptures and blocks the blood supply to the heart.
In light of the potential public health implications of the association between flu infection and acute heart attacks, Dr. de Boer emphasizes the importance of demonstrating the robustness of the study results in a different population.
The study’s findings endorse the implementation of strategies to prevent flu infection, including vaccination, and underscore the need for increased awareness among physicians and hospitalized flu patients regarding the symptoms of heart attacks.
While it remains unclear from the study results whether individuals with less severe cases of flu are also at risk, Dr. de Boer recommends that all individuals be made aware of the link between flu and heart health.
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