New Delhi: Covid-19 vaccines helped prevent sudden deaths rather than cause them, said Dr. Manoj Murhekar, Director of the Indian Council of Medical Research–National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR-NIE).

In an interview with IANS, Dr. Murhekar referred to a 2023 ICMR study conducted in response to growing concerns that COVID-19 vaccinations were linked to sudden deaths in India.

"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 explained that the study was carried out across 50 hospitals in India and included around 800 cases of sudden death. To ensure accuracy, the researchers also included approximately 3,000 healthy individuals from the same neighbourhoods as the deceased, matching them by age and sex.

"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.