No connection between COVID, vaccine and heart attacks, Karnataka expert committee finds amid Siddaramaiah controversy

Published On 2025-07-08 11:25 GMT | Update On 2025-07-08 11:26 GMT

Bengaluru: An expert committee tasked with investigating the recent cases of heart attack deaths in Karnataka has put to rest the growing speculation linking sudden heart attacks to Covid-19 vaccines.

After closely investigating over 20 deaths due to heart attacks in Hassan district, the panel concluded there is no association between premature cardiovascular disease in a patient and a prior history of Covid-19 infection or Covid vaccination.

On the contrary, the report submitted on July 2 noted that Covid-19 vaccination may actually offer long-term protection against heart-related complications.

The state government constituted an expert committee headed by Dr Ravindranath, Director of Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research to investigate the deaths.

As per PTI, the report submitted to the government stated that current data does not support the belief that "long covid" is responsible for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events among the young.

"Rather, a rise in the prevalence of the common risk factors that lead to cardiovascular disease (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, dyslipidemia) is the best explanation for the rise in sudden cardiovascular events."

"The observational study conducted at Jayadeva Hospital, did not find any association between premature cardiovascular disease and a prior history of Covid-19 infection or Covid vaccination. Most studies/ reports published in the rest of the world also have not found any causal association between Covid vaccination and sudden cardiovascular events. On the contrary, covid vaccination has been shown to be protective against cardiac events in the long term," it said.

As Medical Dialogues recently reported, the issue sparked a war of words between Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, after the latter made controversial remarks suggesting COVID-19 vaccines were "hastily" approved and possibly linked to the deaths in Hassan.

According to the panel report, there is no single cause behind the observed rise in sudden cardiac deaths. Rather, it appears to be a multifactorial issue, with behavioural, genetic, and environmental risks.

While in the immediate post-covid phase, there is an increase in the incidence of sudden cardiovascular events due to a pro-inflammatory state, the same cannot be held to be true in the long term (less than 1 year).

It is three years since the end of the pandemic. Citing the study by the experts' committee, the report stated that although conventional risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and smoking remain prevalent in a majority of patients, a significant minority of patients presented with none of these, suggesting the possible involvement of novel or under-recognised mechanisms.

The conclusion was drawn after observing 251 patients below the age of 45 who presented with heart problems at the Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences between April 1, 2025 and May 31, 2025. Patients selected for the study were interviewed by para-medical staff and a proforma was filled up.

The report cited that a detailed risk factor profile analysis was done specifically, including past history of Covid-19 infection, in detail, including symptoms, hospitalisation, severity, and ventilatory support requirement.

Similarly, a detailed history regarding Covid-19 vaccination, including number of doses, vaccine brand, vaccine adverse events, were taken into consideration.

In the wake of these findings, the committee has recommended a multifaceted public health strategy.

"This should include establishing a robust surveillance system for sudden cardiac deaths, particularly among young adults, implementing autopsy-based registries, and integrating early cardiovascular screening at the school level. Importantly, large-scale, prospective, multicentric studies are needed to better delineate the long-term cardiovascular effects of both COVID-19 infection and vaccination," it added.

Article Source : with inputs

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Ruchika Sharma

Ruchika Sharma joined Medical Dialogue as an Correspondent for the Business Section in 2019. She covers all the updates in the Pharmaceutical field, Policy, Insurance, Business Healthcare, Medical News, Health News, Pharma News, Healthcare and Investment. She has completed her B.Com from Delhi University and then pursued postgraduation in M.Com. She can be contacted at editorial@medicaldialogues.in Contact no. 011-43720751

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No connection between COVID, vaccine and heart attacks, Karnataka expert committee finds amid Siddaramaiah controversy

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