Flu causes heart attacks but vaccine protects: study

Mon Sep 21, 6:38 pm ET WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Influenza can help trigger heart attacks and may account for a 35 percent to 50 percent rise in heart attack deaths during flu season, British researchers reported on Monday. While a flu vaccine can prevent these deaths, fewer than half of the most vulnerable heart patients in Britain actually get a flu vaccine every year, however, they...

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Study: Flu viruses can spark heart attacks

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer Maria Cheng, Ap Medical Writer Mon Sep 21, 8:48 pm ET LONDON – Heart patients who catch the flu may have more to worry about than just a fever or the sniffles: the virus could also spark a heart attack, new research shows. Amid the global outbreak of swine flu, experts say it’s crucial that heart patients get vaccinated against both regular flu and...

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Seasonal Cold or Swine Flu? Moms Face Tough Calls

By Deborah Kotz Deborah Kotz US News and World Report Mon Sep 21, 3:11 pm ET I sent my 11-year-old son to school today with a stuffy nose and mild cough, as I’ve done countless times in the past. Now, though, I’m wondering whether I should have kept him home. How do I know it’s really a garden-variety cold and not the swine flu? “That’s a great...

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