INFECTIOUS DISEASES / RESEARCH PAPER

Effect of Statins on Prevalence and Mortality of Influenza Virus Infection: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
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1 |
Trauma research center, Nursing Faculty, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Iran |
2 |
Unit of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Arteriosclerosis Diseases, Department of Medicine, University of Perugia, Perugia, Italy, Italy |
3 |
Basic and Molecular Epidemiology of Gastrointestinal Disorders Research Center, Research Institute for Gastroenterology and Liver Diseases, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, Iran |
4 |
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, School of Medicine, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran, Iran |
5 |
Applied Virology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran, Iran |
6 |
Department of Hypertension, Chair of Nephrology and Hypertension, Medical University of Lodz, Lodz, Poland., Poland |
7 |
Mashhad Uni Med Sci, Iran |
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Submission date: 2021-09-03
Final revision date: 2022-04-29
Acceptance date: 2022-04-30
Publication date: 2022-04-30
Arch Med Sci 2022;18(6)
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ABSTRACT
Introduction:
The aim of this meta-analysis was to assess the effect of ongoing statin treatment on susceptibility to influenza virus infection and on influenza-associated mortality.
Material and methods:
Studies investigating the impact of statin treatment on influenza prevalence and mortality were searched in PubMed-Medline, Scopus, ISI Web of Knowledge, Embase, Proquest, OVID, EBSCO and CINAHLdatabases (up to June 30, 2020). Fixed- and random-effects model and generic inverse variance method were used for quantitative data synthesis.
Results:
In the meta-analysis of 15 arms of 3 eligible studies including flu-vaccinated and unvaccinated patients, treatment with statins was associated with a reduction of influenza virus prevalence [Odds Ratio (OR) 0.85, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) 0.73-0.99; p 0.040]. No significant effect of statins on the susceptibility to influenza infection was observed in the distinct communities of either vaccinated or unvaccinated subjects. Among 9 arms of 6 eligible studies, the use of statins among patients with influenza was associated with a reduced mortality [OR (95% CI), 0.68 (0.56, 0.82); p<0.001]. This result was confirmed for both 30-day mortality since influenza infection diagnosis [OR (95% CI), 0.61 (0.47, 0.80); p<0.001] and for up to 90-day mortality [OR (95% CI), 0.74 (0.55, 1.00); p=0.042].
Conclusions:
A reduced influenza prevalence and anincreased survivalfrom influenza infection was observed in patients on ongoing statin treatment. Further research is needed to define the possible role of statins as adjunctive therapy in patients with influenza infection.