Researchers have shown for the first time in mice that heart problems associated with the flu are not caused by raging inflammation in the lungs, as has long been predicted.
Instead, the Ohio State University study revealed, the electrical malfunctions and heart scarring seen in some of the sickest flu patients are caused by direct influenza infection of cardiac cells.
The research team had seen flu viral particles in cardiac cells of infected mice in previous work, but couldn’t say for sure their presence in the heart was driving cardiac damage.