Severe Infections Double Risk of Heart Failure

MONDAY, Feb. 3, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- Landing in the hospital with COVID or the flu can put your heart health at dire risk, a new study suggests.

Adults hospitalized for a severe infection are more than twice as likely to develop heart failure years later, according to findings published Jan. 30 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

The results underscore the importance of getting recommended vaccines and protecting oneself during the cold and flu season, experts said.

“These are ‘sit-up and take notice’ findings,” Sean Coady, deputy branch chief of cardiovascular sciences at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, said in a news release.