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Is Stroke Risk Higher After Flu-Like Illness?
A new review of nearly 31,000 patients shows that influenza infection increases the risk for stroke regardless of urban status, sex, and race.1
The influenza-stroke association has been controversial, and there is no definitive mechanism between the two conditions.
To better understand this association, researchers from New York reviewed 2012-2014 inpatient and outpatient data from the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS). With this data, the researchers estimated the odds of hospitalization for ischemic stroke after hospitalization for influenza.
“Analyses were stratified by urban and rural status based on residential zip code, sex, and race,” the researchers noted.
In 2014, 30,912 individuals were hospitalized with an ischemic stroke and were included in the analysis. A total 49% of participants were men, 20% were black, and 84% were from urban neighborhoods. The mean age of participants was 71.9 years.
Results of this analysis showed that within 15 days of influenza inflection, the odds of experiencing a stroke increased by 39%. This association remained over 365 days and was not significantly associated with urbanicity, sex, or race.
“We were expecting to see differences in the flu-stroke association between rural and urban areas. Instead we found the association between flu-like illness and stroke was similar between people living in rural and urban areas, as well as for men and women, and among racial groups,” said Amelia K. Boehme, PhD, the study’s lead author and assistant professor of epidemiology in neurology for Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York City.2
—Amanda Balbi
References:
- Alvord T, Kulick E, Cannine M, Elkind M, Boehme A. Influenza-like illness and risk of stroke in New York State. Paper presented at: International Stroke Conference 2019; February 6-8, 2019; Honolulu, HI. https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/str.50.suppl_1.189. Accessed January 30, 2019.
- Flu, flu-like illnesses linked to increased risk of stroke, neck artery tears [press release]. Dallas, TX: American Heart Association/American Stroke Association; January 30, 2019. https://newsroom.heart.org/news/flu-flu-like-illnesses-linked-to-increased-risk-of-stroke-neck-artery-tears. Accessed January 30, 2019.
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