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Heart disease and swine flu
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Among the news updates from the recent European College of Cardiology Meeting in Barcelona was a warning from doctors about the risks of patients with heart disease, the world’s top killer, contracting the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus, commonly known as swine flu.
Flu is caused by an influenza viral infection that produces a host of symptoms including fever, muscle aches and pains, headache, sore throat and cough. The complications of influenza flu lead to over 200,000 hospitalizations and 36,000 deaths each year in the United States. H1N1 is a new influenza virus subtype first identified in April 2009, and commonly called swine flu. It is thought to have formed from a rearrangement of four known strains of influenza virus.
Influenza flu is particularly dangerous for people with heart disease because it produces significant stress on the cardiovascular system. For this reason, the doctors suggested that cardiology patients should be among the first to receive vaccination against the H1N1 virus. A new vaccine that specifically targets the HIN1 virus is in late stage development, and should be available for high risk groups by mid- or late October of this year. In addition, regular flu medications such as Tamiflu and Relenza may mitigate some of the effects of the new virus, and therefore reduce the severity of the flu and the risk of heart attack in some heart disease patients. Of course, patients should consult their doctors about any potential treatments.
There is some good news, however, for heart disease patients concerning swine flu. Since many of these patients are over age 60, preexisting immunity built up over years of exposure to related influenza strains may afford increased protection against the H2N2 strain.
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