Flu Vaccine Lowers CV Risk for Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Patients with type 2 diabetes, who received the flu vaccine, had decreased rates of hospitalization for specific cardiovascular events, according to a recent study.

Seasonal influenza is a substantial health burden for many.  Their research, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, examined patients with type 2 diabetes, and reviewed the effect of the influenza vaccine on hospital admission for acute cardiovascular and respiratory conditions and all-cause death. Over a 7-year period, the retrospective cohort study, utilized primary and secondary care data from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink in England, and enrolled 124,503 adult patients with type 2 diabetes.

Researchers measured admissions to hospitals for acute myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, heart failure or pneumonia/influenza, and death. Poisson regression models were used for influenza and off-season periods to estimate incidence rate ratios (IRR) for cohorts who did not receive the vaccine. Due to a drop in influenza activity in the summer, estimates were used to adjust for residual confounding.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

RELATED CONTENT
Infliximab Boosts Rates of Partial Remission in Early, Active Axial Spondyloarthritis
TauRx Alzheimer's Drug Fails in Large Study; Some Benefit Seen
________________________________________________________________________________________

Patients who received the vaccine were older and had more comorbid conditions compared with non-vaccine recipients. After the covariates and residual confounding was adjusted, the vaccination was associated with significantly lower risks for stroke (IRR = 0.70; 95% CI, 0.53-0.91), heart failure (IRR = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.65-0.92), and pneumonia or influenza (IRR = 0.85; 95% CI, 0.74-0.99), as well as all-cause death (IRR = 0.76; 95% CI, 0.65-0.83). Furthermore, a nonsignificant change was observed for acute MI (IRR = 0.81; 95% CI, 0.62-1.04) during the influenza seasons.

Researchers suggested that further efforts should be focused on improvements in vaccine uptake, in this target group specifically, as a comprehensive secondary prevention.

The study was funded by the National Institute of Health Research. -Julie Gould

Reference:

Vamos EP, Pape UJ, Curcin V, et al. Effectiveness of the influenza vaccine in preventing admission to hospital and death in people with type 2 diabetes [published online ahead of print July 25, 2016]. CMAJ. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.151059.