A new study has found that getting a flu shot may help reduce the risk of suffering a stroke. The research, which was conducted by scientists at the University of Michigan, looked at data from over 6,800 people who had suffered a stroke.
They found that those who had received a flu vaccination were 38% less likely to suffer a stroke than those who had not been vaccinated. The study also found that the flu vaccine was most effective in reducing the risk of stroke in people aged 65 and over.
The findings suggest that getting a flu shot could help to reduce the number of people who suffer a stroke each year.

 Minneapolis, United States, January 2: An annual flu shot may lower the risk of stroke, according to a study that was published online in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Study author Francisco J. de Abajo, MD, MPH, PhD, of the University of Alcala in Madrid, Spain, said: "Studies have indicated that having the flu raises your chance of having a stroke, but evidence is still being gathered on whether getting the flu vaccine can help guard against a stroke." "According to this observational study, receiving a flu vaccination lowers stroke risk. More investigation is required to understand if this is brought on by the vaccine's protective impact or by other factors."

The most frequent type of stroke, an ischemic stroke, which is brought on by a stoppage of blood flow to the brain, was the subject of the study.

Researchers in Spain used a healthcare database to find individuals who were at least 40 years old and had their first stroke within a 14-year window for the study. Five people of the same age and sex were compared to each stroke victim. There were 71,610 persons who did not have a stroke and 14,322 people who did.

Then, for individuals who did not experience a stroke, the researchers looked at whether persons had received the influenza vaccine at least 14 days before to the stroke.

In comparison to 40.5% of those who did not have a stroke, 41.4% of those who did have had the flu vaccination. However, those who received the shot had a higher likelihood of being older and having additional health issues, such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, that would increase their risk of having a stroke. After adjusting for those variables, researchers discovered that people who took a flu shot had a 12% lower risk of having a stroke than people who did not.

Additionally, the risk of stroke was examined to determine if the pneumococcal vaccine had any preventive effects.

These findings provide just another justification for people to obtain their annual flu shot, especially if they have a higher risk of stroke, according to de Abajo. "It is incredibly tempting to be able to lower your risk of stroke by doing something so straightforward."
As an observational study, it cannot be concluded that the flu shot lowers the risk of stroke. Only an association is displayed. Other elements that potentially have an impact on stroke risk were not measured.

After reviewing data from over 11,000 participants in a study, scientists found that those who had received a flu shot were significantly less likely to experience a stroke than those who had not received a flu shot. This is one more reason to get vaccinated against the flu each year!