Flu Vaccine May Lower Hospitalization Rates of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

A new study revealed that patients with type 2 diabetes who received influenza vaccine were less likely to be hospitalized for cardiovascular and respiratory conditions.

The study, published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, also showed that vaccinated type 2 diabetes patient have lower risk of death during the flu season.

For the study, the researchers analyzed the data of 124 503 patients with type 2 diabetes for seven years. The researchers adjusted their study based on demographic, social and clinical characteristics and the summer months, when the occurrence of flu is low.

The researchers discovered that patients with type 2 diabetes who have been vaccinated have 19 percent reduced risk of hospitalization due to heart attack, 30 percent reduced hospitalization for stroke, 22 percent for heart failure and 15 percent for pneumonia or influenza, compared to those type 2 diabetes patient who did not receive flu vaccine. Furthermore, vaccination also lessen the risk of dying from all causes by 24 percent.

"The potential impact of influenza vaccine to reduce serious illness and death highlight the importance to renew efforts to ensure that people with diabetes receive the flu vaccine every year,"said Dr. Eszter Vamos, a public health researcher at Imperial College London and lead author of the study, in a report from Fox News.

Vamos noted that people with chronic conditions are more likely to suffer complications of flu. With the result of their findings, researchers are urging patients with type 2 diabetes and other chronic conditions to have a regular vaccination for flu to prevent potential hospital admissions.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 9.3 percent of the people in the United States or 29.1 million are living with diabetes. These numbers include 21 million people who are diagnosed with the chronic condition and 8.1 million people who have no idea that they have diabetes.