In an expert consensus statement issued by the American College of Cardiology and published online Aug. 26 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, guidelines are presented for vaccination against respiratory illness in individuals with cardiovascular disease.

Paul A. Heidenreich, M.D., from Stanford University in California, and colleagues provided current recommendations for vaccination against respiratory illness.

Recommendations were provided for influenza, pneumococcal disease, COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and zoster. The authors recommend annual influenza vaccination for individuals aged 6 months or older to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and all-cause death.

For patients older than 50 years, a nasal vaccine is not recommended. For those aged 65 years or older, specific vaccines are recommended. For pneumococcal disease, a one-time vaccination is recommended with pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV)-20 or PCV-21 for adults aged 19 years or older.

Initial and 2024 to 2025 COVID-19 vaccines are recommended for persons aged 6 months or older, with changes in recommendations anticipated as circulating virus biology changes. For RSV, a one-time vaccination is recommended for adults aged 50 years or older. Two doses of recombinant zoster vaccine two to six months apart are recommended for adults aged 50 years or older.

“Vaccination against communicable respiratory diseases and other serious diseases is critical for people with heart disease,” Heidenreich said in a statement. “With this document, we want to encourage clinicians to have these conversations and help their patients manage vaccinations as part of a standard prevention and treatment plan.”

2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.