[Association of influenza, influenza vaccination and cardiovascular risk]

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Infectious Diseases
• Public Health

Background:

• Patients with chronic diseases face higher cardiovascular risks from influenza compared to healthy individuals.
• Major cardiovascular organizations recommend influenza vaccination for secondary prevention, yet uptake remains low in this population.
• Current evidence on influenza vaccine's ability to prevent cardiovascular events like myocardial infarction and death is conflicting.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in preventing cardiovascular events in patients with chronic diseases.
• To address the controversy surrounding influenza vaccination's role in cardiovascular risk reduction.
• To highlight the need for further research, including large-scale randomized controlled trials.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing observational and case-control studies on influenza vaccination and cardiovascular outcomes.
• Analysis of recent meta-analyses examining the association between influenza vaccination and cardiovascular risk.
• Identification of limitations in current research, such as study design, subject selection, outcome definition, and sample size.

Main Results:

• Influenza vaccination is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and medical burden in patients with chronic conditions.
• Existing evidence from observational studies and meta-analyses suggests a potential benefit of influenza vaccination in reducing cardiovascular risk.
• Controversy persists due to methodological limitations in current research, necessitating further investigation.

Conclusions:

• Influenza vaccination is a recommended secondary prevention strategy for cardiovascular disease, despite low prevalence in at-risk populations.
• While current evidence suggests a potential benefit, definitive conclusions on preventing cardiovascular events require robust, large-scale randomized controlled trials.
• Further research should focus on confirming these findings and identifying specific patient populations who would benefit most from influenza vaccination.