Adult influenza epidemic is associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Abstract

It has been reported that influenza infection is associated with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin (OHCA-CA). However, the association between OHCA-CA and influenza epidemics in adults has not been well investigated.We analyzed data from the All-Japan Utstein Registry, a prospective, nationwide, population-based, observational study, regarding OHCA-CA cases and the Infectious Diseases Weekly Report for influenza cases: 17,710 OHCA-CA cases and 764,808 influenza cases were recorded between 2005 and 2015 in Fukuoka, Japan. The weekly average number of OHCA-CA cases was positively associated with the number of patients with influenza infection (r = 0.70, P < .0001). To eliminate the effects of season and age, we investigated only adults in winter. The weekly number of OHCA-CA cases was positively associated with the number of patients with influenza infection in weeks when there was a high frequency of influenza infection in adults (r = 0.36, P = .006), but not in weeks with a medium (r = 0.26, P = .05) or low frequency of influenza infection (r = 0.003, P = 1.0). In weeks during which there was a high frequency of influenza infection, the weekly number of OHCA-CA cases was positively associated with the number of influenza infections in males (r = 0.37, P = .006), but not females (r = 0.18, P = .2).The number of OHCA-CA cases was positively associated with the number of influenza infections in adult males during weeks in which there was a high frequency of influenza infections. To help prevent OHCA-CA in males, it might be beneficial to announce influenza epidemics specifically in adults, in addition to all ages.Abbreviations: EMS = emergency medical services, OHCA = out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, OHCA-CA = out-of-hospital cardiac arrest of cardiac origin.

Nationwide Analysis of Cardiac Arrest Outcomes During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“…An increase in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest has been reported during previous viral epidemics. 10 This is in accordance with our current study, in which we noted a 23% increase in total cardiac arrests during 2020 compared to 2019. It has been hypothesized that this association is related to the impact of a systemic inflammatory response on the stability of atherosclerotic plaques, resulting in myocardial infarction and cardiac arrest.…”