NEW DELHI: There is no scientific evidence linking COVID-19 vaccination to sudden deaths among young adults, a latest AIIMS-ICMR study has said.

The study found that most sudden deaths in India among both the young and old is due to cardiovascular diseases.

Also, smoking and alcohol intake was equally prevalent in those who died young and at old age.

The year-long study, published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research, the flagship journal of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), found that while the mean age for sudden death among young was 33.6 years, for old it was 53.8 years.

Males predominated in both the categories.

The researchers closely examined sudden death cases of people aged between 18 and 45 years using verbal autopsy, post-mortem imaging, conventional autopsy and detailed histopathological tests.

According to the findings, there was no statistically significant association between COVID-19 vaccination status and sudden deaths in the young population.

“The present study did not find any significant correlation between COVID-related history or vaccination status,” it said.

Dr. Sudheer Arava, Professor in the Department of Pathology, AIIMS, and co-author of the study, said public health discourse must be guided by credible research and scientific evidence, not misinformation.

The study also noted that both COVID-19 infection history and vaccination status were similar across younger and older age groups, and no causal link between vaccination and sudden deaths was found.