Unexplained sudden deaths among youth not due to COVID vaccine: ICMR study

Sudden unexplained death among young adults in India cannot be blamed on the COVID vaccination, an ICMR study has revealed. Instead, factors such as a family history of sudden deaths, hospitalisation due to COVID, and a certain lifestyle increased the likelihood of such deaths.

The study, titled Factors Associated with Sudden Deaths Among Adults Aged 18-45 Years in India — A Multicentric Matched Case-Control Study, was published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research on Tuesday (November 21).

“We found no evidence of a positive association of COVID-19 vaccination with unexplained sudden death among young adults. On the contrary, the present study documents that COVID-19 vaccination indeed reduced the risk of unexplained sudden death in this age group,” the study said.

It highlighted that a family history of sudden death, hospitalization for COVID-19, and lifestyle behaviours such as recent binge-drinking and vigorous-intensity physical activity were the risk factors for unexplained sudden deaths. Addressing these factors among young adults could potentially modify their risk of unexplained sudden death.

Test cases

Cases from 47 tertiary care hospitals across India recorded between October 1, 2021 and March 31, 2023 were used for the study. The subjects were apparently healthy individuals aged 18–45 years, without any known comorbidities, who suddenly (within 24 hours of hospitalization or seen apparently healthy 24 hours before death) died of unexplained causes.

Four controls were included per case and matched for age, gender, and neighbourhood. The researchers interviewed people or studied records to collect data on COVID-19 vaccination, infection and post-COVID-19 conditions, family history of sudden death, smoking, recreational drug use, alcohol frequency and binge-drinking, and vigorous-intensity physical activity two days before the death.

Anecdotal reports of sudden death among healthy young adults in India led the researchers to conduct the investigation. These deaths raised concerns that they might be related to COVID-19 infection or COVID vaccination, official sources stated.

(With agency inputs)