Respiratory Infections and Your Heart

If you have heart disease, it turns out the flu, COVID-19, pneumonia (pneumococcal disease), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) aren’t just minor illnesses that can leave you feeling lousy, missing work or skipping out on plans for a few days. These lung (respiratory) infections can have serious – and sometimes lasting – effects on your heart.

These infections can:

• Aggravate existing heart conditions like heart failure and coronary heart disease (narrowed or blocked arteries)
• Raise the risk, or chance, of developing:
  • Heart attack
  • Stroke
  • Irregular heart rhythms (arrhythmias)
  • Heart failure
  • Inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis)

For example:

• One study found the risk of a heart attack is 6x higher in the week after a confirmed diagnosis with the flu.
• Similarly, even after recovering from COVID-19, some people may still have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, blood clots, and inflammation of the heart.

Even healthy individuals can develop heart issues because of certain infections.  

Staying up to date with vaccines is an important part of protecting your heart. That’s why the American College of Cardiology and other professional medical groups recommend routine vaccination as part of heart disease management.

Use this condition center to learn how these infections can affect your heart and what you can do to protect it. Talk with your heart care team to make a plan that includes getting the vaccines you need.