FLU SHOT MAY
PROTECT AGAINST HEART DISEASE
This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Science Report.
A vaccine designed to protect people from the influenza virus may also be good for the heart. Doctors have found that the vaccine may greatly reduce the risk of a second heart attack.
Morteza Naghavi led the flu vaccine study at the University of Texas. He presented his results to heart doctors at a yearly meeting of the American College of Cardiology in Anaheim, California. Dr. Naghavi studied 233 heart patients. They all had been treated for heart problems for six months. Dr. Naghavi compared people who suffered a second heart attack with those who did not. He found that those who had flu vaccines reduced their risk of new heart attacks by 67 percent.
Dr. Naghavi says more research is needed to confirm the new finding. But he says the flu vaccine may be a powerful way to keep the heart healthy.
Influenza is a severe viral infection. It causes fever, muscular pain and problems of the breathing system. In the United States, most people become infected with the flu during the cold winter months. Many studies have shown that heart attacks also happen more often during the winter. Dr. Naghavi says infection with the influenza virus may explain the higher rates of heart attacks during the winter.
Two other studies presented at the meeting showed that heart attacks are often more severe during the winter. Doctors say the flu might cause a heart attack by infecting the fat that blocks arteries, the tubes that carry blood away from the heart. They say this infection could cause the blockage to break open and cause a heart attack.
But American doctors say there are many possible explanations for why people get more heart attacks during the winter. They say people often gain more weight, are less active and get more stressed in the winter because of the Christmas holidays.
For many years, health officials have said the flu vaccine is important for older people and people with weak defense systems against disease. But they say less than 65 percent of the population of the United States get the vaccine. Dr. Naghavi says his findings suggest that doctors and the general population should be educated about the protective effects of the flu vaccine. He says this could help increase the vaccination rate.
This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. This is Bill White.
Source: Voice of America, 3/29/2000
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