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

Even people without a history of heart disease or heart issues are at a higher risk of developing either after getting the flu.

Cardiac health is especially vulnerable during the flu because of a cascade of events triggered by the infection.

Also, in people with cardiovascular risk factors, inflammation in the lining of the arteries can contribute to the formation of arterial plaques (waxy substances that can cause blockages) and coronary heart disease, says Joyce Oen-Hsiao, MD, a cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. “If there are already cholesterol plaques on the arteries, the increased inflammation can increase the chance that the plaque will rupture, potentially causing a heart attack,” she says.

“In very bad cases of the flu, when the body is trying to fight off the virus, there is a risk of direct inflammation of the heart (myocarditis), which can lead to a decrease in heart function and even heart failure,” Dr. Oen-Hsiao says.

Even if you’re vaccinated and still get the flu, the symptoms will likely be milder, says Siqin Ye, MD, a cardiologist and associate professor of medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York City. “So this is still very helpful for patients with existing cardiovascular disease. A milder flu episode is less likely to worsen heart conditions.”

The benefits of the flu shot may be especially prominent for people who’ve recently had a heart attack.

5 Tips for Making Your Flu Shot Count

Flu vaccines are considered safe for most everyone, including people with heart disease. The following can help you make the most of yours.

1. 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 (especially for people with heart disease or risk factors). An easy way to think about it, Dr. Sanchez says, is to make Halloween — October 31 — your deadline.

2. But It’s Never Too Late

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 still help protect you from the virus. In fact, Sanchez says, if you got the flu early in the season, it’s not too late to get vaccinated to prevent a second bout of illness.

And remember, if you have heart disease or risk factors, the vaccine can help reduce your risk of serious complications, including atherosclerosis (plaque buildup in the arteries), stroke, heart attack, and heart failure.

3. Make Sure You’re Healthy

“A runny nose or sore throat shouldn’t stop you from getting a flu vaccine,” Sanchez says. It’s also okay to get the flu vaccine if you’ve recently been treated for a heart condition, Dr. Ye says. “In fact, we often recommend flu and pneumonia vaccinations for patients who are about to be discharged from a hospitalization for cardiovascular conditions.”

4. Be Picky, if Possible

5. Stay Up to Date on Other Vaccines

If you’re due for another vaccine, including a COVID-19 shot or booster, or a pneumococcal vaccine, it’s absolutely fine to roll up both sleeves at the same time as you get a flu shot. Pneumonia is a common complication of the flu.