Statins, traditionally known as cholesterol-lowering drugs, may reduce deaths among patients hospitalized with influenza, according to a recent study released online by the Journal of Infectious Diseases. It is the first published observational study to evaluate the relationship between statin use and mortality in hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza virus infection, according to Vanderbilt’s William Schaffner, M.D., professor and chairman of Preventive Medicine.
Doctors may be able to combine statins with antiviral drugs to provide better treatment for patients seriously ill with influenza.
Researchers studied adults who were hospitalized with laboratory-confirmed influenza from 2007 and 2008 to evaluate the association between patients who were prescribed statins and influenza-related deaths.
Among 3,043 hospitalized patients with laboratory-confirmed influenza, 33 percent were given statin medications before or during hospitalization. After adjusting for various factors, researchers found that patients not receiving statins were almost twice as likely to die from influenza as those who received the medication.
Schaffner stressed that receiving the influenza vaccine each year is still the best defense against influenza.
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