Flu shot tied to lower risk of heart attack and stroke, study finds

Significantly lower health risks for people over 50 linked to flu shot

With the typical risk associated with the ordinary flu season complicated by the pandemic, medical professionals and public health experts urge everyone everywhere to start the season with a flu shot.

The flu shot can aid greatly in protecting people against the potentially devastating effects of a co-infection of the flu and COVID-19.

However, the results of a recently published study virtually presented at the American Heart Association’s Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions discovered additional, noteworthy benefits.

Analyzing data from hospitalizations in 2014, researchers concluded that those older patients who received their annual flu shot that year had considerably lower risks for potentially life-threatening attacks.

Of the more than 7 million patients analyzed, 168,325 of them got a flu shot that year.

When compared with those who did not get their flu shot, those adults over the age of 50 were found to have:

• 28 percent lower risk for heart attack
• 47 percent lower risk for a transient ischemic attack, TIA, or stroke
• 85 percent lower risk for cardiac arrest
• 73 percent lower risk for death as a result from these attacks

Pharmacies and physicians across the country are reporting record flu shot demand. If you haven’t gotten your flu shot yet, there’s still time to get it before the peak of flu season arrives.