Athlete deaths during the COVID-19 vaccination campaign: contextualisation of online information

Abstract

Background and aim: Lay people and medical professionals have suggested a link between (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccination and a purported increase in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and death (SCD) among athletes. We aimed to compare the athlete death rate in 2021-2022 with pre-pandemic estimates and investigate the role of vaccination. Methods: A comprehensive, much referenced, publicly available list of health issues, emergencies, and SCA/SCD in athletes from January 2021 to December 2022 was analysed. Demographic data, country, type of sport, vaccination status, and possible association between reported medical events and vaccination were evaluated for the complete set of athletes. The following data were specifically assessed for cases of SCD in young US athletes and compared to matched data from pre-pandemic studies: average annual SCD number, mean age, male/female ratio, sports with highest death toll, cause and scene of death, and relation to exercise. Descriptive statistics were used. Results: The list contained 1653 entries. (Former) athletes, aged 5-86 years, from 99 countries, participated in 61 different sports. In multiple cases, causes of and circumstances surrounding medical events were irretrievable. Many cases involved non-cardiovascular, exercise-unrelated aetiologies. Vaccination details were scarce. In 63 (3.8%) cases, including 9 fatal events, there was a plausible association with COVID-19 vaccination. In US athletes aged 9-40 (mean 22.7) years, 166 SCD cases were identified (average 83/year), mainly in males (83%) and in football (39.8%) and basketball (16.9%). Main causes of death were non-cardiovascular exercise-unrelated (22.9%) or unknown (50.6%). Deaths primarily occurred at rest (32.5%) or under unknown circumstances (38.6%). SCD characteristics were similar to those of two pre-pandemic studies with comparable datasets. Conclusion: SCD rate among young US athletes in 2021-2022 was comparable to pre-pandemic estimates. There is currently no evidence to substantiate a link between (mRNA) COVID-19 vaccination and SCD in (young) athletes.