The risk of dying for heart disease is greater for those heart patients when they contract the common flu virus. Even those with diabetes can also be on that list of higher risk. A study done by a British group of researchers between 1932 and 2008 showed more deaths from heart disease during the flu season. The scary part of this study was that the findings showed that the death rate averaged between 35 to 50%.
For this reason, doctors are advising all heart patients to be sure to get their flu vaccine. Because the flu causes inflammation in the body, mostly in the lungs, and this will lead to pneumonia. The flu virus also causes swelling in the coronary arteries which could break off dangerous clots and thus a heart attack. Andrew Hayward, at the University College London Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology, said two studies in the analysis showed that heart patients who go their flu vaccine has less heart attacks, compared to those who did not.
There are almost 36,000 people each year dieing from the flu and more than 200,000 are admitted to a hospital because of complication from the flu. Other conditions are also seen: bacterial pneumonia, asthma, dehydration and the worsening of chronic conditions like congestive heart failure.
