VACCINATION AGAINST INFLUENZA AND HEART FAILURE

Abstract

Introduction: Influenza increases metabolic demand and, when accompanied by hypoxemia, can exacerbate underlying cardiac conditions. Increased sympathetic nervous system activity during infection may be detrimental to patients with heart failure (HF) and may lead to volume overload. Objectives: to analyze the influence of influenza vaccination on the rate of hospitalization for heart failure. Materials and methods: This is an integrative review, in which the guiding question was “Does influenza vaccination change the hospitalization rate in patients with heart failure?”. The search for articles took place in PubMed using the terms “vaccination”, “influenza” and “heart failure”, combined with the Boolean operator AND. Results and discussion: Influenza vaccination is a fundamental measure to reduce the incidence of influenza infection and subsequent complications, reducing the rate of hospital admissions and preventing deaths related to influenza and cardiovascular diseases. In Hamid Mohseni's study, the strength of the association for respiratory infections was weaker than for cardiovascular hospitalizations. In patients with HF, influenza vaccination is associated with a reduced risk of hospitalizations, especially for cardiovascular diseases. The findings reinforce efforts to better recommend and implement annual influenza vaccination in patients with HF. Conclusion: Influenza vaccination is a fundamental measure to reduce the incidence of influenza infection and subsequent complications, reducing the rate of hospital admissions and preventing deaths related to influenza and cardiovascular diseases.