Flu Shot Drops Cardiovascular Risk in Type 2 Diabetes Vaccine also lowered all-cause mortality risk

compared with unvaccinated adults with type 2 diabetes, those who got the influenza vaccine were 30% less likely to be hospitalized for stroke (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 0.70; 95% CI 0.53 to 0.91) and 22% less likely to be hospitalized for heart failure (IRR 0.78; 95% CI 0.65 to 0.92), reported a research team led by Eszter Vamos, MD, PhD, of the Imperial College London. "Influenza infection may accelerate acute thrombotic vascular events, particularly in patients with ischemic heart disease and cerebrovascular disease." Vaccinated adults with type 2 diabetes were also 15% less likely to be hospitalized for pneumonia or influenza (IRR 0.85; 95% CI 0.74 to 0.99) and 24% less likely to die from any cause (IRR 0.76; 95% CI 0.65 to 0.83), Vamos and colleagues reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. http://www.medpagetoday.com/clinical-context/Diabetes/59346?xid=nl_mpt_Weekly_Education_2016-08-10&eun=g5883165d1r