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AIIMS study finds heart disease caused sudden deaths in young adults; no link to Covid vaccines

‘We also did not find any significant evidence of vaccine related complications,’ says doctor

4 min readDec 15, 2025 09:38 AM IST

The researchers did not observe any significant increase in sudden deaths in those who had a history of Covid-19

Heart diseases were the most common cause of sudden deaths in the young, accounting for around 42.6 per cent of such deaths, according to a recently published study based on autopsies conducted at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, (AIIMS) New Delhi. The study was commissioned to ascertain the cause of sudden deaths, which had reportedly increased after the pandemic.

A fifth of these deaths were caused by respiratory diseases and the cause of death could not be ascertained in another fifth of the cases. Gastrointestinal diseases were behind another 6.4% of the sudden deaths, genito-urinary diseases were responsible for 4.3% of the deaths, and brain and central nervous system problems behind another 3.2% of the deaths, according to the data.

The researchers did not observe any significant increase in sudden deaths in those who had a history of Covid-19 or those who had been vaccinated against the viral infection. Among the young sudden death cases, 4.3% had a history of the infection and 82.8% had been vaccinated against it. “The present study did not find any significant correlation between COVID-related history or vaccination status,” the study said.

A year-long study

Dr Sudheer Arava, professor of pathology at AIIMS, said, “We studied nearly 100 sudden deaths in the young over the course of a year. We found that there is not link between these deaths and Covid-19 vaccination. We also did not find any significant evidence of vaccine related complications — there was only one case of myocarditis or inflammation of the heart muscle.”

He said that the team is also looking at patterns of sudden death before and after the pandemic. While the results are still awaited, an initial analysis shows that there hasn’t been a significant change in the number of sudden deaths.

Why is this study significant?

This is significant considering that vaccines were pointed as a cause of increasing sudden deaths in the young repeatedly. Earlier this year, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah had blamed the hasty approval and distribution of these vaccines as the reason for a series of heart attack deaths in the state’s Hassan district.

Heart diseases in the young

Of the 94 cases of sudden death in the young — people between the ages of 18 and 45 years — studied by the researchers, 40 died of heart diseases. Importantly, heart attacks were the most common cause in this category, accounting for 85% of the deaths caused by heart diseases. Another 5% each were due to structural anomalies and congenital problems. Inflammation of the heart accounted for another 5% of the deaths due to heart diseases. “Most of the deaths were due to heart attacks, which is related to lifestyle and personal habits. When it comes to the 21.3% deaths for which the reason was found to be respiratory conditions, the leading cause was choking on materials like vomit, food or other liquids accounting for half these deaths. Pneumonia was behind another 30% of these deaths and tuberculosis was responsible for another 20%.

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This pattern of sudden deaths in the young was found to be very different from the patten of deaths among those between the ages of 46 and 65 years. Almost three fourths of the sudden deaths among the elderly were caused by heart disease, followed by 14.1% due to unexplained conditions. Respiratory diseases resulted in fewer — only 4.4% — of the sudden deaths in the older individuals.

More sudden deaths in women

The researchers also found that the proportion of women was higher among the sudden deaths in the young as compared to those in the older individuals. Eighteen per cent of the sudden deaths in the younger population were in women as compared to 5.8% of the sudden deaths in the older individuals.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More