Flu shot may help diabetic patients

People with type 2 diabetes may get an added benefit from the flu vaccine: a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease. British researchers studied 124,503 people with type 2 diabetes over seven years. About two-thirds of them had been vaccinated for the flu.

After controlling for sex, age, smoking, body mass index, hypertension, medications and other factors, they found that people with type 2 diabetes who had received the flu vaccine had a 30% lower risk of stroke, a 22% lower risk of heart failure and a 24% lower risk of death from all causes. They had a slightly lower, statistically insignificant risk for heart attack.

The lead author, Dr Eszter P Vamos, a clinical fellow at Imperial College London, said that people with diabetes are already at high risk for cardiovascular disease, and that the flu is particularly dangerous for them. “The flu vaccine is largely underused among people with chronic illnesses,” she said.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, had a large sample and a long follow-up time, which give it considerable strength. Still, the authors acknowledge they were unable to account for all the factors that could make people who get a flu shot different from people who do not.