Pneumonia vaccine halves heart attack risk

Recent study results suggest that being vaccinated against pneumonia may dramatically reduce the risk of heart attack.

Danielle Pilon and colleagues conducted a study designed to investigate whether pneumococcal (pneumonia) vaccination offers any protection against heart attack. A total of 43, 209 patients at risk of heart attack were identified for the study, out of these the researchers matched 999 patients who had been treated for heart attack with 3996 controls according to age, sex, and year of hospital admission. Results of the study revealed that the incidence of heart attack was 50% lower in participants who had received the pneumococcal vaccine more than two years before being admitted to hospital.

The researchers conclude: “After a number of confounding and modifying variables were taken into account, the odds of having received a vaccination against S. pneumonia in the group who had experienced myocardial infarction was about half that in the control group. Moreover, this association appeared stronger and the benefit appeared to increase with time since exposure to the vaccine.”

Lamontagne F, Garant MP, Carvalho JC, Lanthier L, Smieja M, Pilon D. Pneumococcal vaccination and risk of myocardial infarction. CMAJ 2008;179. doi:10.1503/cmaj.070221.