{
  "id": 2492088,
  "title": "‘H1N1’s reach often extends well beyond chest cavity, can affect heart’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/h1n1s-reach-often-extends-well-beyond-chest-cavity-can-affect-heart",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-08-22T03:42:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/h1n1-swine-flu-heart-complications-delhi-cases-10844349/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Delhi is currently experiencing a significant upsurge in swine flu cases, with around 1,777 confirmed instances recorded this year – nearly six times the number of 229 cases reported in the same period last year. As the number of infections escalates, medical professionals are highlighting how H1N1, or swine flu, can affect more than just the lungs, with potential impacts on the heart as well.\n\nDr Gautam Naik, a senior cardiologist at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi, has warned that while H1N1 is primarily a respiratory illness, it can extend its reach to the cardiovascular system. Influenza triggers a systemic inflammatory response, elevates heart rate, and raises the body's metabolic demand, all of which place additional stress on the heart. In patients already suffering from coronary artery disease, this inflammation can destabilize cholesterol plaques within blood vessels, elevating the risk of heart attacks.\n\nIn extreme cases, swine flu can lead to myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, which can impair the heart's pumping ability and cause dangerous rhythm disturbances. The major cardiac risks linked to the influenza infection include acute coronary syndrome or heart attack, worsening of existing heart failure, the development of new-onset heart failure, and serious rhythm disturbances.\n\nWhile research indicates that the risk of a heart attack increases substantially in the days following an influenza infection, the virus acts as a trigger for those with pre-existing cardiovascular vulnerabilities rather than causing harm on its own. Patients should be particularly vigilant for symptoms that they might typically overlook, such as new or persistent chest pain or pressure, disproportionate breathlessness, new palpitations, rapid and irregular heartbeat, fainting or severe dizziness, unexplained sweating, increasing leg swelling, or a sudden worsening of breathlessness. These symptoms, especially in individuals with pre-existing heart conditions, should be treated as potential cardiac emergencies.\n\nWhile most healthy young individuals typically recover fully from swine flu without any lasting cardiac damage, the risk persists for those who develop complications such as myocarditis, a heart attack, significant arrhythmia, or heart failure. In such cases, structured cardiac follow-up may be necessary to monitor heart function and ensure proper recovery.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}