New Delhi: Covid-19 vaccination actually prevented sudden deaths, it did not cause them, Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE) Director Manoj Murhekar said. 

Speaking to IANS, Murhekar cited a 2023 study undertaken by the ICMR in the wake of concerns that Covid jabs are leading to sudden deaths in the country.

"The findings of our study indicated that Covid vaccination was not associated with sudden death. In fact, what we found was that Covid vaccination protected against sudden deaths," the senior scientist at the Chennai-based institute told IANS.

He informed that the study was conducted in 50 hospitals across India. About 800 patients of sudden death were included, along with about 3,000 healthy controls residing in the same neighbourhood as the patients. The study matched for age and sex of the dead patients with the controls.

"We also identified several other risk factors for sudden deaths, like hospitalisation due to past Covid -- indicating a severe Covid illness, binge drinking 48 hours prior to sudden death, unaccustomed exercise, drug use, etc.," Murhekar said.

Earlier, the Union Health Ministry noted that the matter of sudden unexplained deaths has been investigated through several agencies in the country.

“The findings have conclusively shown that Covid-19 vaccination does not increase the risk of unexplained sudden death in young adults,” the Ministry said.

Another study led by ICMR in partnership with AIIMS, New Delhi, identified "genetic mutations as a possible cause" in the majority of the unexplained death cases.

The study also revealed that Covid vaccination does not appear to increase the risk, whereas the role of underlying health issues, genetic predisposition, and risky lifestyle choices does play a role in unexplained sudden deaths, the Ministry said.

Meanwhile, Murhekar also mentioned the more than 20 heart attack-related deaths in just 40 days in Karnataka's Hassan district.

"The 20 cases of sudden deaths were reported from one district in the last one or two months," the ICMR-NIE Director said, adding that the state government has constituted a high-level committee to investigate the reasons.

"Let us wait till the report of this committee comes," he told IANS.

(IANS)