(RxWiki News) Flu vaccination may lower the risk of hospital admission in patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a new study.
This study, involving 124,503 participants over a seven-year period, set out to find if flu vaccination had an impact on hospital admission rates for cardiovascular and respiratory diseases or death rates among those with type 2 diabetes.
People with diabetes may face a high risk for complications related to having the flu, and flu infection may accelerate certain cardiovascular events. Only a few past studies on the effectiveness of the flu vaccine in those with diabetes have been conducted, and the results have been inconclusive.
This study found that flu vaccination may lower the risk of hospital admission for stroke, heart failure, and pneumonia or influenza, as well as the risk of death, for those with diabetes. However, the risk of heart attack did not appear to be lowered by the flu vaccine.
“This study has shown that people with type 2 diabetes may derive substantial benefits from current vaccines, including protection against hospital admission for some major cardiovascular outcomes," the authors of this study wrote. "These findings underline the importance of influenza vaccination as part of comprehensive secondary prevention in this high-risk population.”
This study was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.
The National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) North West London Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care scheme, the Imperial Centre for Patient Safety and Service Quality and, the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre scheme funded this research. Information on conflicts of interest was not available at the time of publication.
