Flu shot may help prevent heart attacks, study finds

BOSTON – Another good reason to get your annual flu shot? The shot may help prevent heart attacks.

Dutch researchers looked at the records of more than 26,000 cases of influenza and discovered that people are six times more likely to suffer a heart attack in the seven days after coming down with the flu than in the year before or after. 

They say adults, especially those with underlying heart disease, should take measures to avoid getting sick with the flu, like getting vaccinated every year, and also be on the lookout for heart-attack-related symptoms if they do get infected. 

The flu virus has been known to promote clotting in the blood.

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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