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If you catch the flu, you may not only feel bad, but you may also be hospitalized for heart problems.
A team of researchers analyzed monthly influenza reports from disease control and prevention centers in four communities in the United States between October 2010 and September 2014. For each 5% increase in influenza activity, they found that hospitalization rates for heart failure had increased by about 24% the same month.
The results will be presented Saturday at the Scientific Sessions conference of the American Heart Association in Chicago.
"Influenza can affect cardiovascular events, especially in high-risk individuals, so we should not be negligent about immunization," said Dr. Scott Solomon, lead author of the study and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston. "The best way to improve flu-related outcomes is to vaccinate people."
Research conducted earlier this year showed that people were six times more likely to have a heart attack one week after being diagnosed with the flu. But the impact of the virus on heart failure, a condition in which the heart muscle becomes too weak or stiff to pump blood efficiently through the body, has not been so clear, said Solomon.
"The purpose of this study was really to see if we could establish a correlation between influenza activity occurring at the regional and temporary level, or at any time of the year, with hospitalizations for heart failure that were occurring at about the same time, "he said.
Donna Arnett, epidemiologist and dean of the College of Public Health at the University of Kentucky, who did not participate in the new research, said the increased risk of hospitalization for heart failure found in the Study was weak but important enough to send a message.
"The most important point to remember here is that people who already have heart disease and are likely to suffer from heart failure must absolutely be vaccinated, because flu can usually be prevented through vaccination," she said. she declared.
The mechanisms underlying the real contribution of the flu to heart failure are unclear, but Mr Arnett clarified that this was not "as relevant as what we already know about prevention of the flu ".
"As an epidemiologist, we have a vaccine to prevent the disease.We should use this vaccine as widely as possible, especially for people likely to suffer from heart failure", a- she declared.
Influenza activity in the United States usually begins in October or November, peaks between December and February and may last until May, according to the CDC. In the United States, influenza is estimated to cause between 12,000 and 56,000 deaths each year and up to 710,000 hospitalizations.
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