Does influenza vaccination reduce all-cause mortality and heart failure hospitalizations in patients with heart failure?
Influenza vaccination is associated with a significant reduction in all-cause mortality among patients with heart failure, with the greatest benefit observed during the influenza season.
BACKGROUND: Influenza is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients diagnosed with heart failure. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of influenza vaccination in this population in terms of reduction in all-cause mortality and rate of hospitalization. METHODS: statistic. Subgroup analyses were performed to examine the effect of vaccination during the influenza and noninfluenza seasons. RESULTS: We identified 8 studies that included a total of 82 354 patients with heart failure. In patients with heart failure who were vaccinated against influenza, we found a reduced risk of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio HR, 0.69; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.51-0.87). No evidence of publication bias was found, and the effect was more pronounced during influenza season (HR, 0.49; 95% CI, 0.30-0.69), compared with noninfluenza season (HR, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.68-0.89). In terms of heart failure hospitalizations, we did not identify a statistically significant difference between the cohorts (HR, 0.62; 95% CI, 0.00-1.23). CONCLUSIONS: Influenza vaccination was associated with a decreased risk of all-cause mortality in patients with heart failure, and this effect was more prominent during the influenza season.
Poudel et al. (Mon,) studied this question.