False: Sudden Adult Death Syndrome is caused by COVID-19 vaccines.

By: Gayathri Loka
June 22 2022

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Context:

Recent social media posts have claimed that "Sudden Adult Death Syndrome" is caused by COVID-19 vaccines. The captions of these posts state how it is harmful to get vaccinated. Some of these posts contained links to articles about how young people die from the syndrome. However, none of the articles suggested the deaths were a result of COVID-19 vaccines. 

In fact:

Sudden arrhythmic death syndrome (SADS) is also called "Sudden Adult Death Syndrome." According to the British Heart Foundation, SADS occurs when a person goes through a sudden cardiac arrest, and the causes are unknown. A cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops pumping blood around the body, with arrhythmia defined as when there is an abnormal heart rate in a person's body.

A study by the British Medical Journal has researched the characteristics of SADS. According to the study, the cause of death was not found during the postmortem. The study was conducted on participants aged 16–64 without a history of cardiac disease. "23 (4.1 percent) cases were identified, with no clear cause of death despite a full coroner's autopsy and expert examination of the heart by a cardiac pathologist," the study stated.

According to the Mayo Clinic, 1 in 50,000 to 1 in 80,000 young athletes die of sudden cardiac death each year. Some conditions that can lead to SADS are thickened heart muscles, heart rhythm disorders, chest injuries, and heart structure problems.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, there have been many false claims regarding the effects of COVID-19 vaccines. One of the claims states that myocarditis (the inflation of heart walls) is an adverse effect of the vaccines. On June 13, 2022, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that most patients with myocarditis respond well to COVID-19 vaccines. BBC News also reported no link between COVID-19 vaccines and deaths following vaccination. "About 4,500 people died after being vaccinated, in the U.S., up to June 2021. But no unusual patterns in the data were detected that might suggest a link to the vaccine itself," the report said. COVID-19 vaccines have been proven safe and effective in fighting the virus. The vaccine's side effects are mostly fever, headache, cold, and fatigue. Vaccines are tested in clinical trials prior to public use and monitored for safety after they are released for public use.

The verdict:

There is no link between SADS and COVID-19 vaccines. The cause of SADS is unknown.

The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.