For the study, researchers examined seven years of health data on nearly 125,000 individuals with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers determined vaccination for influenza is associated with a 30 percent lower rate of hospitalization for stroke, a 22 percent lower rate of hospitalization for heart failure and 15 percent lower rate of hospitalization for either influenza or pneumonia. Patients vaccinated for influenza also displayed a 24 percent lower death rate.
“The potential impact of influenza vaccine to reduce serious illness and death highlight the importance to renew efforts to ensure that people with diabetes receive the flu vaccine every year,” lead study author Eszter Vamos, PhD, a public health researcher at Imperial College London, told Reuters.
One limitation of the study acknowledged by the authors is that patients who are regularly vaccinated for influenza may be healthier in other ways than patients who forgo their annual flu vaccine.
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