Why Getting a Flu Shot Matters for Heart Health

With few exceptions, health experts recommend that everyone — from 6-month-old babies to adults in their sixties and well beyond — get a flu shot every fall. Vaccination can help prevent or lessen the severity of illness by lowering the chance of serious complications, such as hospitalization, respiratory failure, pneumonia, or heart attack.

The advice for an annual flu shot is especially vital for anyone at high risk for cardiovascular problems. “This includes people over 65, as well as those with a history of heart disease, stroke, or risk factors for cardiovascular disease like smoking and diabetes,” says Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, chief medical officer for prevention for the American Heart Association.

Even so, people in this high-risk group often skip their annual flu shot. If this applies to you, it’s important to understand how the influenza vaccine can protect your health. It may even save your life.

Why Getting a Flu Shot Matters for Heart Health

Research has found that after being diagnosed with the flu, a person is six times more likely to have a heart attack (when blood flow to the heart is blocked) in the week that follows. According to the Cleveland Clinic, cardiac health is especially vulnerable during the flu because of a cascade of events brought on by the inflammation caused by the infection.

Inflammation elevates blood pressure, which stresses the heart. Under this stress, plaque — a waxy substance that accumulates in the arteries — becomes weak and can break off, forming clots that can block arteries and lead to a heart attack.

There’s evidence getting vaccinated can help lower the risk of heart problems due to flu. For instance, in July 2020, research presented at an American Heart Association conference revealed that getting a flu shot reduced the risk of cardiac complications from flu, including heart attack, cardiac arrest (when the heart suddenly stops beating), transient ischemic stroke (TIA), and even death.

Similarly, a meta-analysis published in 2022 in JAMA Network Open found the benefits of the flu shot were especially great for people who’d recently had a heart attack, lowering their risk of a second heart-related event by 45 percent.

Getting the Most Out of a Flu Shot

Flu vaccines are considered safe for most everyone, including people with heart disease. Some things to keep in mind as you make plans to get your vaccine:

Timing is everything. Flu season starts to gear up in the fall and peaks between December and February. It takes a couple of weeks after vaccination for immunity to set in, so it’s ideal to get a flu shot before then. An easy way to think about it, says Dr. Sanchez, is to make Halloween — October 31 — your deadline.

Better late than never. Even if you miss that deadline, get a shot anyway. Flu season can linger into late spring, so getting vaccinated in November or even later can help protect you from the virus. In fact, says Sanchez, if you happened to have gotten the flu early in the season it’s not too late to get vaccinated in order to prevent a second bout of flu.

Make sure you’re healthy. “A runny nose or sore throat shouldn’t stop you from getting a flu vaccine,” Sanchez says. However, if you have a fever it’s best to wait, as a high temperature means your immune system is focused on fighting off an infection, according to the Cleveland Clinic. And if you’ve tested positive for COVID-19, you should wait until your quarantine period is over and for severe symptoms to pass, adds Sanchez.

Be picky, if possible. All flu shots are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, even those offered at your local supermarket pharmacy or pop-up vaccination clinic, meaning they’re safe and effective. However, since seniors are at an increased risk of serious flu complications, including heart-related ones, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that during the 2022-2023 flu season, people 65 and over should get a high-dose flu vaccine (there’s only one on the market) or an adjuvanted one, which has added ingredients to help it boost the immune response. If neither is available, get whichever flu shot is: It will still provide plenty of protection.

Stay up to date on other vaccines. If you haven’t gotten a COVID-19 shot or you need a booster, it’s absolutely fine to roll up both sleeves for either at the same time you get a flu shot. Check with your doctor to find out if you’re due for a pneumococcal vaccine as well. Pneumonia is a common complication of the flu.