association of influenza influenza vaccination and cardiovascular risk

• DOI: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.0253-9624.2016.02.002
• Publication Date: 2016-02-01
• Authors: Yimeng Jiang; Yan Zhang
• Keywords: Cardiovascular Diseases; Influenza Vaccines; Risk Factors; Influenza, Human; Vaccination; Secondary Prevention; Humans

Cardiovascular risk and related medical burden due to influenza in patients with chronic disease were higher than those of healthy subjects. As a result, influenza vaccination is recommended as a strategy for secondary prevention in cardiovascular disease by major cardiovascular organizations, but the prevalence of influenza vaccination in these population is still low. Whether influenza vaccine can prevent cardiovascular events such as myocardial infarction and death is still controversial based on current evidences from observational studies and case-control studies, which may result from study desion,subjects selection,outcome definition and sample size issues. Recent meta-analysis showed that influenza vaccination may reduce cardiovascular risk, but large-scale random controlled trials with adequately power should be conducted to confirm these findings as well as the target population for this strategy further.