Statins tied to fewer serious respiratory infections in older adults

Clinical takeaway: Encourage appropriate statin initiation and adherence among older adults with cardiovascular indications. In this observational study, statin initiation was associated with fewer hospitalizations for pneumonia and other acute respiratory infections.

Respiratory infections are a major cause of hospitalization in older adults, and inflammation may contribute to both severe infection and cardiovascular events. A large UK study suggests statins could have benefits beyond cardiovascular prevention, although a protective effect has not been established.

Researchers analyzed linked health records from 213,372 adults aged 65 years or older who remained unvaccinated against influenza. Annual cohorts from 2010 through 2018 compared 35,562 new statin users with 177,810 adults who had no recorded statin prescription. Patients were followed for one year.

After statin initiation, the risk of hospitalization with pneumonia was 14% lower than among nonusers, while the risk of hospitalization with any acute respiratory infection was 17% lower.

No significant association was found for hospital-diagnosed influenza, but the small number of influenza cases made that estimate imprecise. Respiratory infections recorded in primary care were modestly more common after statin initiation. This pattern raises the possibility that statins may reduce progression to severe illness rather than prevent infection, potentially through effects on inflammation. Differences in healthcare use or health-seeking behavior could also explain the findings.

“Further studies using complementary causal inference approaches and randomised evidence are needed to establish whether these associations are causal,” the authors concluded.

Source: Streeter AJ, et al. (2026 Aug 13) Open Forum Infect Dis. Statin initiation and risk of serious respiratory infection: a population-based cohort study of older UK adults using linked health records