RadishRose
SF VIP
- Location
- Connecticut, USA
(Reuters Health) - Millions of people who take statins to lower cholesterol may not get maximum protection from flu vaccines, two new studies suggest.
Both studies looked at the effectiveness of flu vaccines in people who were or were not using statins. Taken together, the results connect statins to a dampened immune response to flu vaccines and greater odds of respiratory infections during flu season.
The findings, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, pose a particular conundrum for the elderly, who are more likely to die or face serious complications from the flu and also more likely to take statins to prevent potentially fatal heart attacks and strokes.
But until more research confirms exactly how statins interact with the vaccines, older patients should stay the course with both their medications and vaccinations, said Dr. Robert Atmar, an infectious disease researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston who wrote an editorial accompanying the studies.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/29/us-health-statins-flu-vaccine-idUSKCN0SN26Z20151029
Both studies looked at the effectiveness of flu vaccines in people who were or were not using statins. Taken together, the results connect statins to a dampened immune response to flu vaccines and greater odds of respiratory infections during flu season.
The findings, published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases, pose a particular conundrum for the elderly, who are more likely to die or face serious complications from the flu and also more likely to take statins to prevent potentially fatal heart attacks and strokes.
But until more research confirms exactly how statins interact with the vaccines, older patients should stay the course with both their medications and vaccinations, said Dr. Robert Atmar, an infectious disease researcher at Baylor College of Medicine and Ben Taub General Hospital in Houston who wrote an editorial accompanying the studies.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/10/29/us-health-statins-flu-vaccine-idUSKCN0SN26Z20151029