During the first seven days of influenza, the risk of a heart attack is six times higher, Canadian scientists write in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Researchers from the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) and Public Health Ontario (PHO) in Toronto analyzed medical records of 20. residents of the province of Ontario who contracted the flu in 2009–2014 and the infection with this virus was laboratory confirmed.
332 people had had a heart attack within a year of being diagnosed with influenza. The most significant increase in the risk of this serious cardiac event was observed within the first week following the diagnosis of influenza. The risk apparently increased in the elderly and in those infected with influenza B.
The authors also analyzed the results of other previous studies. It turned out that not only real flu can contribute to serious cardiological complications. An increased risk of a heart attack – although not as high as in the case of the flu – was also associated with infection with other respiratory viruses.