Local 12: Study: COVID-19, flu shots may increase stroke risk in seniors when given together

"I think the problem with this kind of study from a design is this study only looked at people who are vaccinated," Fichtenbaum said. "And what it was looking at was somebody more likely to have an event early on versus later on. And so, I think that is probably not the optimal study design.”

FDA researchers analyzed the data from Medicare claims and found that the increase happened in adults who are 85 and older. This is the second study to find that COVID-19 and flu shots when given together put seniors at a higher risk for stroke. There are three cases for every 100,000 doses given.

The high-dose flu vaccine, which is designed to rev up the immune system, was found to be the culprit in these results.

"There's five other studies that have looked at this in national databases throughout the world and found exactly the opposite -- no real risk whatsoever,” Fichtenbaum said. “And remember this study has not been peer-reviewed, and so that there may be some alterations and changes when it gets an opportunity to go through the normal review process, and the conclusions of this study may have to be a little bit altered based upon how the reviewers view the data."

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Lead photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Marketing + Brand.