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You\u2019re getting vaccinated against the disease on the label, but you\u2019re also taking your immune system for a run. It\u2019s like keeping fit. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n
Last spring I got flu. Not just a nasty cold but the can\u2019t-walk-to-the-letterbox type, influenza A. When the fevers and lacerating cough eased, my body was the remnants of a battlefield. I swore I\u2019d start getting an annual flu vaccination.<\/p>\n
\n In a happy twist, research shows my jab has
\n not only protected me from a repeat of the sickness but also reduced my heart attack and stroke risk. I like that so much that I had the shingles vaccine as well. It, too, has surprising perks, including dementia prevention and possibly a slower rate of ageing.\n <\/p>\n
Philip Shirley, a GP and public health registrar at the University of Auckland\u2019s Immunisation Advisory Centre, is scrutinising the evidence on this. With a flu vaccine, he says, \u201cYou\u2019re not just stopping people from catching the flu, you\u2019re preventing the downstream effects of having a major adverse inflammatory event.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heart attack and stroke can be two of those events. Spikes of both in bad flu seasons have been recognised for the past century, and a Canadian study showed people with a confirmed flu infection have 6-7 times the risk of having a heart attack in the following week, says Shirley. \u201cWe know the flu virus literally goes inside your blood vessels and can destabilise plaques. If it\u2019s in the heart, it can cause a heart attack. In the brain, that can cause a stroke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plaque is gunk that sits quietly for years inside blood vessels, and if it ruptures, the vessel can become clogged, damaging the surrounding tissue by starving it of oxygen. Heart muscle damage resulting from clogged arteries is the leading cause of death in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe strongest evidence we have for the flu vaccine preventing heart attacks is giving it to people within three days of their first heart attack: if you monitor those folk for a year, they have 30% fewer repeat events.\u201d That study ruled out what Shirley calls \u201cthe healthy vaccinee effect\u201d that can make outcomes seem better because people who get regular vaccinations tend to be wealthier, have more formal education, not smoke, etc.<\/p>\n
![\"Philip]()
Philip Shirley: Vaccination can refresh the immune system. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n
The benefits extend beyond not getting flu. Research is increasingly showing that vaccination rejuvenates an ageing immune system. \u201cThe immune system is ageing along with the body, and it\u2019s getting a little bit forgetful about some of the bugs it\u2019s seen in the past; it\u2019s getting a bit more sluggish,\u201d says Shirley. \u201cYou get trained immunity from vaccines. You\u2019re getting vaccinated against the disease on the label, but you\u2019re also taking your immune system for a run. It\u2019s like keeping fit. So when you encounter just a run-of-the-mill cold virus, you\u2019re not vaccinated against it but your ability to recognise it and mount a response to it is much quicker.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s less powerful evidence for trained immunity than for direct protection against the target disease. \u201cWe\u2019re not sure how big this effect is but we think it\u2019s real, and people are investigating this actively.\u201d<\/p>\n
Scientists are also exploring vaccines for broader anti-ageing effects. A recent University of Southern California study showed the shingles vaccine \u2013 for which there\u2019s also compelling evidence of less dementia, heart disease and stroke \u2013 was linked to slower biological ageing. That showed up in lower inflammatory markers and several other molecular ageing hallmarks.<\/p>\n
Shirley says there are early signals that certain vaccines may lessen \u201cinflammaging\u201d, which is persistent, low-grade inflammation related to an ageing immune system.<\/p>\n
Whether for personal health or keeping hospital beds available, these added benefits mean vaccination makes even more sense, he says. \u201cPeople who are at high risk of heart attacks would be close to the top of my list if we were expanding access to funded vaccines.\u201d He notes M\u0101ori and Pacific people tend to have heart attacks earlier but no longer get free flu vaccines until they\u2019re 65, unless they meet other criteria. <\/p>\n
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