Annual flu shot can greatly reduce risk of stroke in adults, Canadian researchers say
Bill Macfarlane
https://calgary.ctvnews.ca/annual-flu-sh...s-say-1.6136520
Updated Nov. 2, 2022 10:51 p.m. CDT
Published Nov. 2, 2022 6:33 p.m. CDT


Getting the flu shot can significantly reduce the chances of having a stroke, according to a new Canadian study.

"We found that those individuals actually had a lower risk of stroke than individuals who didn't receive a flu shot or at other times of the year outside of that six-month-post window," said Dr. Jessalyn Holodinsky, the study's first author and a post doctoral fellow at the University of Calgary's Cumming School of Medicine.

In a research paper published Wednesday in the medical journal The Lancet Public Health, the team examined the health of more than four million adult Albertans of all ages and health backgrounds over a 10-year span.

"That's over four million people - and it's actually over 30 million person years of follow up when you're following that many people for that length of time, so it was a lot of data we had to work with," Dr. Holodinsky said.

The research uses by far the largest data set applied to the relationship between influenza vaccination and cardiovascular health researchers say, and while the link to stroke is new, it also supports previous studies that looked at heart attack risk.

It also sheds further light on a phenomenon long observed in hospitals.

"(When there is a) peak of influenza in the community, about three or four weeks later we get a peak of stroke admitted to hospital," said Dr. Michael Hill, one of the study's co-authors. "So there's a relationship between upper respiratory infections and vascular events like ischemic-stroke."

The research did not specifically examine why getting immunized against the flu significantly lowered the risk of stroke across ages and health histories, but the working hypothesis is that fewer flu cases means less stroke risk. In this understanding, vaccination is simply the reason for the reduced cases.-- excerpt, rest at link above --

Are these strokes caused by the covid shot?

Either way, I'm not getting a flu shot this year.

I haven't gotten a flu shot in a few decades...

Ah, here we go:

Pfizer announces two-in-one vaccine for Covid AND flu — which it hopes will boost sluggish uptake for both shots
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic...-Covid-flu.html
Pharmaceutical giant said the first patient got a dose of the vaccine this week
It is designed to tackle common Omicron variants as well as the flu
Vaccine uses mRNA technology popularized during the Covid pandemic
By Luke Andrews Health Reporter For Dailymail.Com
Published: 10:00 EDT, 3 November 2022 | Updated: 13:56 EDT, 3 November 2022


Pfizer is testing a new vaccine that inoculates against Covid and flu amid sluggish uptake of both shots.

The first patient was given the two-in-one vaccine this week as clinical trials got underway. In total 180 patients will be recruited for the study.

Pfizer's new shot targets the Omicron variant and its offshoots as well as four strains of influenza.

Rival vaccine-maker Moderna is also testing a vaccine targeting Covid and flu, as well a triple-shot that also immunizes against RSV.

None are expected to be ready for this year's flu season, which is already the worst in over a decade piling pressure on hospitals.

Uptake of the updated bivalent booster vaccine is lagging in the US, with just a handful of Americans who are eligible coming forward.

The numbers coming forward for the flu vaccine are also down, with 18 per cent fewer jabbed now than this time last year.

Pfizer cashed in on the Covid pandemic vaccine rush, making $21.98billion in profits last year. Only Novartis — behind many cancer treatments — made more.

The pharma giant is also working on an RSV-fighting jab, which it revealed yesterday was 80 per cent effective in infants. -- excerpt, rest at link above --


This is so....I can't find the right word for what this is....