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Getting vaccinated for the flu may also cut your risk of developing cardiovascular issues.

That is the finding of at the University of Toronto and her colleagues after a meta-analysis of the results of six clinical trials involving flu vaccines conducted between 2000 and 2021. These involved a total of over 9000 people.

The researchers wanted to find out whether having a flu vaccine reduced the chance of developing cardiovascular conditions, such as angina, stroke and heart attack, in the year following inoculation. Previous studies had found a link, but no analysis of this has involved so many participants.

As part of all six trials, participants were followed for 12 months. Their average age was 65.5 and just over a third of them had had heart issues in the 12 months leading up to their enrolment in one of the trials.

Only 4510 of these people had a flu vaccine, whereas the others were given either a placebo or didn鈥檛 receive any treatment at all.

The researchers found that the flu vaccine led to a 34 per cent lower risk, on average, of a major cardiovascular issue in the 12 months following inoculation. When specifically comparing patients who had a recent history of heart problems, those who had been vaccinated against influenza had a 45 per cent lower risk of a heart condition in the following year than those who hadn鈥檛.

at Harvard University, who worked on the study, says this link is probably because flu can lead to heart attacks. 鈥淚t could be the stress that an infection places on the heart, such as that caused by fever, an elevated heart [rate]and dehydration,鈥� he says.

鈥淪ome studies also suggest that the vaccine itself may interact with the body鈥檚 immune system and inflammatory process to help stabilise plaques in blood vessels, therefore preventing them from dislodging or rupturing and causing further problems,鈥� says Behrouzi.

This study is far larger than previous analyses on this, says at the University of New South Wales in Sydney. 鈥淭he biological plausibility is that by preventing influenza, vaccination also prevents the cardiovascular complications of flu,鈥� she says.

鈥淭he more widely people, including doctors, understand the cardioprotective effect of influenza vaccines, the more prospect we have of preventing avoidable deaths from heart disease,鈥� says MacIntyre.

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