February 11, 2026 8:15 PM
Researchers discover how severe flu damages the heart
Researchers believe they now understand how severe cases of influenza damage the heart, providing an explanation for the annual uptick in heart attacks during flu season. “We have known for years that the frequency of heart attacks increases during flu season, yet outside of clinical intuition, scant evidence exists of the underlying mechanisms of that phenomenon,” study leader Filip Swirski of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai said in a statement. Studying tissue samples from ho...