This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Influenza vaccine reduces poor outcomes in hypertension
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
PARIS — Influenza vaccination is associated with a significantly reduced risk for all-cause mortality, CV mortality and death from acute MI and stroke in patients with hypertension, according to data presented at the European Society of Cardiology Congress.
Influenza vaccination was also associated with older age, diabetes, atrial fibrillation, lower educational level, lower income and higher medication use, Daniel Modin, MB, research associate the University of Copenhagen, and colleagues found.
When adjusted for season, age, sex, comorbidities, medications, income and education, vaccination was attributed an 18% relative reduction in all-cause deaths (adjusted HR = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.79-0.85), a 16% reduction in CV deaths (aHR = 0.84; 95% CI, 0.8-0.89) and a 10% relative reduction in death from stroke or acute MI (aHR = 0.9; 95% CI, 0.82-0.98) in patients with hypertension.
“Given these results, it is my belief that all patients with high blood pressure should have an annual flu vaccination,” Modin said in a press release. “Vaccination is safe, cheap, readily available, and decreases influenza infection. On top of that, our study suggests that it could also protect against fatal heart attacks and strokes, and deaths from other causes.”
In this retrospective cohort, using data obtained from nationwide Danish registries, researchers analyzed 608,452 patients with hypertension who were treated with at least two different classes of antihypertensive medication between the 2007 and 2016 influenza seasons. At baseline, all patients were free from ischemic heart disease, HF, chronic obstructive lung disease, cancer and cerebrovascular disease.
Vaccine coverage across the 9-year study period was 26% to 36%.
“We show that influenza vaccination may improve cardiovascular outcomes in patients with hypertension,” Modin said in the release. “During the nine flu seasons we studied, vaccine coverage ranged from 26% to 36%, meaning that many patients with high blood pressure were not vaccinated. If you have high blood pressure, it would be worth discussing vaccination with your doctor.” – by Scott Buzby
Reference:
Modin D, et al. Young Investigator Award Abstracts. Presented at: European Society of Cardiology Congress; Aug. 31 to Sept. 4, 2019; Paris.
Disclosure: Modin reports no relevant financial disclosures. Another author reports he has financial ties with Amgen, Novartis and Sanofi Pasteur.