We highly recommend flu shots for people who have heart disease.  This is because, unless you are living with a neonate or an elderly person who is frail or has dementia, a slightly reduced risk of influenza is not that important.  But if you have inflamed plaque in your arteries, the inflammation triggered by the flu might lead to plaque rupture, which is the cause of heart attacks and strokes.  In a study published by the CMAJ, heart attack risk was nearly doubled during the three months after a flu.