Catching COVID-19 or the Flu Could Triple Your Risk of Stroke and Heart Attack

A bout of COVID-19 or the flu can significantly increase your risk of developing a stroke or having a heart attack, even if you recovered weeks ago.

According to a new article published in the Journal of the American Heart Associationthe risk increases three to five times in the weeks and months following a viral infection such as the flu. Meanwhile, people living with chronic illnesses such as HIV and hepatitis C face a less severe but increased longer-term risk of cardiovascular disease.

“Our study found that acute and chronic viral infections are linked to short- and long-term risks of cardiovascular disease, including stroke and heart attack,” Kosuke Kawai, Sc.D., lead study author and adjunct associate professor in the division of general internal medicine and health services research at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, said in a statement.

Kawai and his team came to this conclusion after reviewing 155 studies published between 1997 and 2024.

Viral infections: an acute risk

Researchers analyzed studies comparing patients in the weeks following COVID-19 and flu infections with those same patients during periods without viral infections.

According to some studies included in the meta-analysis, people diagnosed with COVID-19 were three times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke within 14 weeks of infection and remained at a higher risk level for a year.

Meanwhile, people with a laboratory-confirmed case of flu were four times more likely to suffer a heart attack and 5 times more likely to suffer a stroke within a month of infection. As the researchers note, those who had lab tests were more likely to have had a severe flu, so the same level of risk may not apply to a milder attack.

Kawai and his team suggest that this increased risk may be linked to the body’s immune response to infection, which triggers inflammation and can increase the risk of blood clotting. This, in turn, puts increased pressure on the heart. A state of inflammation could persist after the initial infection, perhaps explaining the increased risk in the weeks following illness.

Chronic diseases: a lighter but longer-term risk

The team also studied the long-term association between chronic diseases and cardiovascular events, comparing participants with the condition to similar participants who did not have the condition.

The findings suggest a significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke among people living with HIV (60 percent and 45 percent), hepatitis C (27 percent and 23 percent) and shingles (12 percent and 18 percent) than those without them. Although this figure is not as high as that seen after a viral infection, researchers highlight its importance as a long-term risk.

“Additionally, shingles affects about one in three people during their lifetime,” Kawai said. “Therefore, the high risk associated with this virus results in a large number of excess cases of cardiovascular disease at the population level. »

Researchers note an association between other diseases, such as herpes, hepatitis A, HPV and dengue fever, and increased risk of cardiovascular disease, but say this link requires further research.

A major cause of death

Cardiovascular disease is currently the leading cause of death worldwide and in the United States, where it was responsible for 680,981 deaths in 2023 (11% more than the second biggest killer, cancer), according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

But, as the researchers point out, measures can be taken to reduce this risk, including vaccination. According to one of the studies cited in the article, published in the Open JAMA NetworkThose who were offered a flu vaccine were 34 percent less likely to experience a major cardiovascular event than those who received a placebo.

This article does not offer medical advice and should be used for informational purposes only.

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