( CNN ) -- A flu shot can do more than just fight against influenza , a new study suggests . It may also fight against heart attacks . Adults who take the flu vaccine may be less likely to get their first heart attack the next year , researchers say . The study , published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal , was conducted to add to other studies that suggested that there is a link between respiratory infections and heart attacks . `` By the nature of the study , it does not prove cause and effect . So it does not prove that the flu vaccine prevents heart attacks . But it does show that the flu vaccine is associated with the reduction , '' said Niro Siriwardena , one of the authors of the study and a professor at the University of Lincoln in England . British researchers , who conducted the study , compared the medical records of a little more than 16,000 first-time heart attack victims age 40 and older with the records of nearly 62,700 people who had not had heart attacks . After factoring other major risks for heart attacks , such as smoking and family history of heart ailments , the research found that the flu shot was associated to a 19 percent reduction in the rate of first heart attack , the study found . And the benefit was even more for those that received flu shots earlier in the flu season . Those who got the shots early had a 21 percent reduction in the rate of heart attacks in the next year , the study found .
NEW : Study does not prove cause and effect , researcher says . UK researchers say flu vaccine is associated with a 19 percent drop in first time heart attacks . Researchers studied a large group of people age 40 and older .