인플루엔자에 감염되었을 경우 심장마비의 위험이 증가한다는 최근 연구결과가 랜싯지에 실렸다는 AFP통신의 뉴스입니다.
오늘 국내에서 40대 신종플루 감염 뇌사환자가 사망했다는 소식이 있었는데, 플루가 심장질환과의 관련성이 있다는 연구결과까지 나왔습니다.
심장질환이 있는 사람들은 계절성 독감 백신과 돼지독감 백신을 모두 접종받는 것이 중요할 것 같습니다.
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Flu boosts heart-attack risk: study
출처 : AFP통신 Sep 22 2009
PARIS (AFP) – Heart problems may account for a huge share of deaths from influenza, according to a study published on Tuesday that recommends cardiac patients be vaccinated against flu.
The paper, published in the journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases, reviews mortality figures for acute myocardial infarction — a sudden heart attack — and cardiovascular disease during outbreaks of flu between 1932 and 2008.
The current pandemic H1N1 virus was not included in the snapshot.
Between 35 and 50 percent of the increase in deaths recorded during influenza outbreaks could be attributed to cardiovascular problems, it says.
The authors, led by infectious disease epidemiologists Charlotte Warren-Gash and Andrew Hayward at University College London, say the flu virus causes inflammation and acts on the molecular pathways that control blood coagulation.
These effects could destabilise fatty deposits that line the arterial wall and cause clots that block coronary arteries, they say.
Only a few investigations have been carried out into whether flu vaccination helps protect cardiac patients, but the little evidence available suggests it does, the paper says.
“We believe influenza vaccination should be encouraged wherever indicated, especially in those people with existing cardiovascular disease,” it says.
At present, vaccines for “seasonal” flu are recommended in many countries for individuals with chronic medical conditions. They generally include cardiovascular disease but not other cardiac problems such as hypertension.
Relatively few people at risk take up the vaccine, though. In Britain, only 47.2 percent of people with chronic conditions received the jab for seasonal flu, according to figures quoted in the study.
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Study: Flu viruses can spark heart attacks
LONDON – Heart patients who catch the flu may have more to worry about than just a fever or the sniffles: the virus could also spark a heart attack, new research shows.
Amid the global outbreak of swine flu, experts say it’s crucial that heart patients get vaccinated against both regular flu and swine flu to avoid medical problems. Doctors said swine flu isn’t any more dangerous than regular flu, but it’s important for heart patients to get vaccinated because more flu viruses will be circulating this year.
British researchers analyzed 39 previous studies of heart patients and found a consistent link between flu and heart attacks. Up to half of all unexpected flu deaths were due to heart disease, the researchers found.
The study was published online Tuesday in the British medical journal, The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
“The message here is so strong and so logical that it’s hard for us to ignore,” said Dr. Ralph Brindis, vice president of the American College of Cardiology. “If we can convince cardiac patients to get a flu vaccine, that could ultimately save lives.”
Only about one-third of heart patients in the U.S. regularly get vaccinated.
Doctors have long known that flu viruses can worsen existing medical conditions and that heart patients are especially vulnerable during flu pandemics. Flu viruses cause inflammation in the body, usually in the lungs. But they can also cause swelling in the heart itself or in the coronary arteries, which could lead to dangerous clots breaking off and causing a heart attack.
Once heart patients get the flu, they are also more vulnerable to complications like pneumonia and other infections.
“We know influenza vaccine is effective in preventing influenza and therefore in theory, ought to be effective in preventing the complications of influenza,” said Andrew Hayward of University College London, one of the study authors. He said two of the studies analyzed showed heart patients who got a flu shot had fewer heart attacks than those who didn’t.
Hayward said flu viruses might merely act as triggers for heart attacks in cardiovascular patients.
“Influenza may be bringing forward an event that might have happened anyway,” he said, adding there is evidence that when the virus peaks, so too do heart attacks.
Experts are unsure whether the study results apply to otherwise healthy people with no history of heart disease. But they say flu viruses could potentially trigger heart attacks in people with no apparent heart disease, if they have risk factors like high blood pressure or are overweight.
For heart patients, doctors said the evidence is clear.
“Flu has too often been off the radar screen,” said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, a spokesman for the American Heart Association and professor of medicine at Yale University. “But flu is as important to think about as cholesterol or blood pressure.”
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