Indian researchers find no link between sudden death and COVID shots

[November 21, 2023]  NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian researchers found no evidence that COVID-19 vaccination was behind "unexplained sudden deaths", a medical organization said on Tuesday, instead pointing to the disease itself, binge drinking and intense exercise as risk factors.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) conducted a study following what it called "anecdotal reports about sudden unexplained deaths among apparently healthy adults" aged 18 to 45 between October 2021 and March 2023.

"We found no evidence of a positive association of COVID-19 vaccination with unexplained sudden death among young adults," the research group said in a study published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research.

"At the same time, family history of sudden death, hospitalization for COVID-19 and lifestyle behaviors such as recent binge drinking and vigorous-intensity physical activity were risk factors for unexplained sudden death."

ICMR researchers identified 29,171 sudden deaths and scrutinized the records of 729 of the cases as well as 2,916 "control" subjects as part of their investigation, the group said.

Asmita Koladiya, 29, a healthcare worker, carrying her eight-month-old daughter Jiyanshi Gaurang, gives a dose of vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) to a villager in Lodhida village in Rajkot district in the western state of Gujarat, India, February 2, 2022. REUTERS/Amit Dave/File Photo

Government data shows India suffered 45 million COVID infections and 533,295 related deaths but experts say the actual numbers are several times higher.

Many Indian hospitals ran out of beds during the peak of the COVID crisis and many people died at home.

(Reporting by Krishna N. Das; editing by Robert Birsel)

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