Rev Esp Cardiol
-
Editorial Comment Comparative Study
[Physical activity. An efficient and underused way of preventing cardiovascular disease from childhood to old age].
-
Editorial Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
[Secondary prevention of coronary artery disease. Flu vaccinations and new evidence of the role of infection in acute coronary syndromes].
Recent reports have detected an increase in the number of patients with acute coronary syndromes during the flu season. More recently, case-control studies of patients with prior infarction have shown that flu vaccination significantly reduces the risk of myocardial necrosis and strokes. The World Health Organization recommended flu vaccination for the Southern Hemisphere in the winter of 2001. ⋯ The first primary outcome -cardiovascular death- occurred within 6 months in 2% of the patients in the vaccinnated group vs 8% of controls (RR: 0.25; 95% CI, 0.07-0.86; p = 0.01). The triple composite end point occurred in 11% of the patients in the vaccinnated group vs 23% of controls (p = 0.009) at 6 months. Although our study is the first to demonstrate lower rates of cardiovascular ischemic events in patients vaccinated against Influenza during the flu season, the modification of flu vaccination recommendations in patients admitted for cardiovascular events merits further study before being considered.