WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Patients taking statin drugs were almost 50 percent less likely to die from flu, researchers reported last week in a study providing more evidence the cholesterol-lowering drugs help the body cope with infection.

The findings are compelling enough to justify doing controlled studies in which some patients are given the drugs deliberately and some are not, said Meredith Vandermeer of the Oregon Public Health Division, who helped lead the study.

"Our preliminary study shows these cholesterol-lowering medications called statins are associated with a decrease in mortality," Vandermeer told a news conference at a meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. "This early research suggests there may be a role for statins in influenza treatment and it should be studied further."

Vandermeer and a team of researchers, including at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, looked at the records of 2,800 people who were hospitalised with seasonal influenza in 10 states during the 2007-2008 flu season.