Karnataka: Study finds no link between Covid vaccine and heart attacks
The study, led by Dr KS Ravindranath, Director of Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research, was submitted to the state government on July 2.
The report followed a two-month pilot study of 251 patients aged 45 and below who were admitted to Jayadeva Hospital with coronary artery disease between April and May this year. Although 19 patients reported past Covid infection and nearly all (249 out of 251) had received at least one vaccine dose, the expert committee concluded there was no evidence to suggest these factors directly contributed to heart attacks or sudden cardiac deaths.
The geographical analysis showed that 47% of all cases were from Bengaluru, with smaller proportions from Tumkur (8%), Mandya, Kolar, and Ramanagara (5% each), and a combined 22% from other Karnataka districts. Patients from other states made up 5% of the study sample.
'The findings are clear — there is no link between Covid vaccination and sudden cardiac deaths. In fact, global studies show vaccines are protective against severe cardiovascular outcomes,' the report noted and instead highlighted that a worrying number of young patients lacked conventional risk factors like diabetes or hypertension, pointing to the need to explore newer mechanisms, possibly related to lifestyle or environmental changes.
When compared to pre-pandemic data from 2019, a notable increase was observed in lifestyle-related risk factors among patients under 40. The share of diabetics rose from 13.9% in 2019 to 20.5% in 2025, hypertension from 13.9% to 17.6%, and those with cholesterol disorders from 34.8% to 44.1%. Smoking also saw an increase from 48.8% to 51%.
While the study acknowledged a temporary rise in cardiovascular events in the immediate post-Covid phase — likely due to inflammation or stress — it dismissed long-term Covid or vaccine effects as causes for the current spike in young-onset heart disease.
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