AIIMS Study Finds No Link Between Covid Vaccines And Sudden Deaths In Young Adults

In the past few years, more people have started talking about sudden deaths among younger adults, especially in the post-pandemic period. Along with that, rumours and debates have been flying around, with some people pointing fingers at COVID vaccines, even as discussions continue without clear answers. After tracking cases for a year, experts at AIIMS Delhi say there’s no proof that COVID vaccines are responsible for sudden deaths among adults aged 18 to 45. Their conclusions are based on detailed post-mortem examinations.

The study, titled 'Burden of Sudden Death in Young Adults: A One-Year Observational Study at a Tertiary Care Centre in India', has been published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research. The findings of this study matter because vaccines have often been blamed in several cases. Earlier this year, the debate intensified when Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah linked the quick approval and rollout of COVID vaccines to several heart attack deaths in Hassan district.

The AIIMS findings show that heart-related problems were the biggest factor behind sudden deaths in the 18–45 age group. Heart diseases alone were linked to about 42.6 per cent of the cases, and within that, heart attacks were responsible for nearly 85 per cent of the deaths. Doctors also pointed to structural heart abnormalities, congenital conditions and inflammation of the heart muscles as other causes. Breathing-related illnesses came next, accounting for around 21.3 per cent of the deaths, mainly due to choking, pneumonia and tuberculosis. In close to one out of five cases, even detailed examinations could not clearly pinpoint what caused the death.

Dr Sudheer Arava, professor of pathology at AIIMS, said the team examined close to 100 cases of sudden deaths among young people over a one-year period. He noted that their analysis did not show any connection between these deaths and Covid-19 vaccination and added that no meaningful signs of vaccine-related complications were found.

Among those aged 46 to 65, most sudden deaths were linked to heart disease, making up close to three-fourths of the cases. About 14.1% remained unexplained, while respiratory diseases accounted for 4.4% of deaths in this age group. The data showed a noticeable gap between age groups. Women accounted for a higher share of sudden deaths among younger individuals, at 18%, compared to 5.8% among older individuals.