In 2007, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) joined forces to advise doctors to give flu shots to all their patients with cardiovascular disease. The message is especially aimed at cardiologists -- the doctors who are most likely to see these high-risk patients.
This advisory is in compliance with guidelines for treating patients with cardiovascular disease, issued by the AHA and ACC in May, where influenza vaccination was recommended as routine preventative therapy for heart patients for the first time. This recommendation follows the results of several studies showing the benefits of flu vaccine in cardiac patients, studies that began appearing several years ago. In some reports, the risk of cardiovascular mortality was reduced as much as 50% in cardiac patients receiving flu shots, leading the AHA/ACC advisory to recommend vaccination "with the same enthusiasm as cholesterol and blood-pressure control." The reduction in deaths is due not only to preventing the increased death rate that the flu itself has in those with cardiovascular disease, but also in preventing flu-triggered heart attacks.
DrRich Comments:
The AHA/ACC advisory on influenza vaccine is commendable. Keep in mind, however, that it often takes 5 to 10 years for formal guidelines such as these to penetrate down to the average doctor. Don't wait: If you've got heart disease take the initiative yourself, and get a flu shot.
Sources:
Davis MM, Taubert K, Benin AL, et al. Influenza vaccination as secondary prevention for cardiovascular diseased. A science advisory from the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology. Circulation2006; 114: 1549-1553.
