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Flu vaccine benefits that might surprise you

A smiling woman points to the adhesive bandage on her upper arm.

Sept. 7, 2026—Avoiding the flu is the best reason to get vaccinated. The flu vaccine can help you avoid a miserable illness. It might even help keep you out of the hospital—the flu makes many people very sick due to serious complications.

Check out some stats from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. During the 2024–2025 flu season, flu vaccinations prevented an estimated:

10 million flu cases.
5 million medical visits.
180,000 hospital stays.
12,000 deaths.

This is why getting a yearly flu shot makes a lot of sense. But flu vaccines may offer even more benefits than you realize. Among them:

Flu shots may help protect the brain from dementia. Some of the evidence comes from a study in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease comparing vaccinated older adults to their unvaccinated peers. The study found those who often said yes to a flu shot had a 40% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease over four years.

Why? One theory is that vaccines (not just flu shots) may trigger the immune system in brain-protective ways. Of course, it could simply be that people who get flu shots also do other healthy things, like exercising and eating healthy foods, that might help keep their brains healthy.

Flu vaccines may help with heart attack and stroke prevention. There's evidence that the flu can trigger a heart attack or a stroke in people already at risk, according to AARP.

For example, a 2018 Canadian study found that the risk of a heart attack was six times higher in the week after getting the flu. The flu can cause more inflammation and make plaque in arteries unstable, some studies suggest.

There is also evidence that getting a flu vaccine helps prevent these heart problems. A 2023 review of studies found that people who got a flu vaccine were 26% less likely to have a heart attack and 33% less likely to die from heart or blood vessel diseases.

Getting vaccinated may help prevent the flu from making other health problems worse. Staying up-to-date on flu shots may lower the risk that the flu will worsen some chronic health problems. For example, the flu can exacerbate conditions such as congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

It's also true that having an underlying health problem can make you more likely to have a flu complication such as pneumonia. That's why it's especially important for people at high risk of flu complications to get vaccinated, along with everyone else 6 months and older.

Get the facts, not the flu

There's more to know about flu vaccines, including their safety and why they matter. Start by learning these five key facts.

Sources

AARP. 4 Surprising Benefits of the Flu Shot.
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy. Flu Vaccine May Cut Heart Attack, Stroke Risk Even When Infection Occurs.
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy. Flu Vaccines Show Benefits for the Heart in New Studies.
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy. High-Dose Flu Vaccine Tied to Lower Alzheimer's Risk in Older Adults.
Center for Infectious Disease Research & Policy. Study: Flu Vaccination Reduces Risk of Heart Attack.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Benefits of Flu Vaccination.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Studies Suggest Influenza Virus Infection Raises the Risk of Heart Attack.
National Institutes of Health. Links Found Between Viruses and Neurodegenerative Diseases.