Ask Dr. Nandi: Statins reduce power of flu shot

“Getting your flu vaccine is a safe and effective way to prevent serious influenza illness in yourself and others”. Two new studies explored that Statin has the ability to compromise a person’s response to flu shots if he all ready has a weak immune system. Annually, at least 30 million people in the WHO European Region decide to get vaccinated against influenza.

Pence got his flu shot at a Kroger store in Greenwood, a suburb just south of Indianapolis.

Both studies looked into the effect of flu vaccines on people who were or were not using statins. Previous year the CDC recorded the highest hospitalization rates for people 65 and older since 2005. Those who took statins produced fewer virus-fighting antibodies after vaccination, they reported in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. “So that’s one chunk of factors that may influence less than optimal responses in the elderly associated with flu vaccine”.

Another team of researchers reviewed cases of about 140,000 patients in managed health care in Georgia. They also hope to produce a publicly available flu prediction tool.

Steven Black, MD, the study’s lead author and faculty member at CCGHC, said in a press release from the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), “Apparently, statins interfere with the response to influenza vaccine and lower the immune response, and this would seem to also result in a lower effectiveness of influenza vaccines”. The authors noted that the findings may have an influence on guidance for statin use at the time of vaccination, but more studies-including ones involving lab-confirmed flu-are needed.

Most seasonal flu activity in the United States typically occurs between October and May, with peak periods commonly occurring between December and February, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which utilizes retrospective flu reporting.

In another study, vaccine effectiveness at preventing serious respiratory illness was lower among patients taking statins compared to patients who were not on statins.

In one study of flu vaccine recipients older than 65, statin users had a significantly reduced immune response to flu vaccination, compared to those not taking statins.

The researchers stress that it’s far too soon to assume that the statins are directly to blame.

By combining data from a variety of nontraditional sources, a team led by researchers at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital has developed predictive models of flu-like activity that provide robust real-time estimates (“nowcasts”) of flu activity and accurate forecasts of flu-like illness levels up to three weeks into the future.

In any given year flu kills between 3,000 and 49,000 people, and 80 to 90 percent of them are over 65.

“It’s been offered, I’ve declined because I hear people get flu shots and then get the flu”, said Dave Olen of Chicago. “We know that flu vaccines decrease the risk of influenza and complications from influenza infection and should be taken”.