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| health information | health news

Flu increases risk of heart attack and stroke

13 December 2007

We're talking about more substantial infections than a simple head cold.

Professor Tom Meade, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine

Key facts

To help prevent flu you should:

Eat a balanced diet, rich in fruit and vegetables.
Take regular exercise.
Don't smoke (or try to stop if you already smoke).
Get a flu jab.

Catching flu this winter could put you at a higher risk of having a heart attack or stroke, according to new research published in the European Heart Journal.

The study, carried out by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, found that people were around twice as likely to have a heart attack or stroke in the week following a respiratory infection. What's more, the increased risk continued for another month before tailing off. Respiratory infections include bronchitis and pneumonia, and are commonly a complication of flu.

The researchers of the study, which looked at a database of two million people, believe that their results add strength to previous findings of an association between respiratory infections and cardiovascular events. They also revealed that the link can affect anyone - whether or not they have any other underlying risk factors for stroke or heart attack.

However, according to Professor Tom Meade, one of the researchers of the study, not everyone who catches a cold or flu this winter should be worried. "We're talking about more substantial infections than a simple head cold," Professor Meade told the Bupa health information team. "Just having a runny nose or a cough doesn't come into it."

Furthermore, the risk of having a heart attack or stroke is still relatively minimal, even for those people who do get a more severe respiratory infection. The results of the study showed that of people who had a stroke or heart attack, only around two percent had actually suffered a respiratory infection in the month leading up to the event.

However, the actual numbers of people affected by heart attacks and strokes in the UK means that the link with respiratory infections and flu still warrants concern as a public health issue, according to Professor Meade.

There are certain measures you can take to reduce your chance of getting flu, and consequently respiratory infections. According to Professor Meade, one thing that people who are already at an increased risk of heart disease should definitely be doing is getting a flu and pneumococcal jab.