Flu or Respiratory Infections Linked to Increased Heart Attacks and Strokes

A new study, which appears today in the online edition of the European Heart Journal, has found strong evidence that recent respiratory infections increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, both of which are more common in the winter. It has for some years been recognised, using information from death certificates, that there is an excess of deaths from coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke during the winter months, over and above those directly attributable to deaths from respiratory disease. More direct evidence has been necessary.