US Infant Mortality Trends…

US Infant Mortality Trends Attributable to Accidental Suffocation and Strangulation in Bed From 1984 Through 2004: Are Rates Increasing?

PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 No. 2 February 2009, pp. 533-539

OBJECTIVE. Accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, a subgroup of sudden, unexpected infant deaths, is a leading mechanism of injury-related infant deaths. We explored trends and characteristics of these potentially preventable deaths.

METHODS. In this descriptive study, we analyzed US infant mortality data from 1984 through 2004. To explore trends in accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed and other sudden, unexpected infant deaths, we calculated cause-specific infant mortality rates and estimated proportionate mortality. Sudden, unexpected infant death was defined as a combination of all deaths attributed to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, sudden infant death syndrome, and unknown causes. Finally, we examined factors that were reported as contributing to these accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed deaths.

RESULTS. Between 1984 and 2004, infant mortality rates attributed to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed increased from 2.8 to 12.5 deaths per 100000 live births. These rates remained relatively stagnant between 1984 and 1992 and increased between 1992 and 2004; the most dramatic increase occurred between 1996 and 2004 (14% average annual increase). In contrast, total sudden, unexpected infant death rates remained stagnant between 1996 and 2004, whereas the proportion of deaths attributed to sudden infant death syndrome declined and to unknown cause increased. Black male infants <4 months of age were disproportionately affected by accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed. Beds, cribs, and couches were reported as places where deaths attributed to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed occurred.

CONCLUSIONS. Infant mortality rates attributable to accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed have quadrupled since 1984. The reason for this increase is unknown. Prevention efforts should target those at highest risk and focus on helping parents and caregivers provide safer sleep environments.

 

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The DTaP vaccine was licensed in 1991 and routine use of DTP vaccine was stopped in the US. The ‘back to sleep campaign’ was initiated in 1992. So the downward trend of SIDS rates was attibuted to the ‘back to sleep campaign. But was it really? Which is the real reason? What might the medical establishment be hiding?

In contrast, total sudden, unexpected infant death rates remained stagnant between 1996 and 2004, whereas the proportion of deaths attributed to sudden infant death syndrome declined and to unknown cause increased.”

That statement sounds like double-speak.  SIDS remained stagnant from 1996-2004, yet unkown causes increased.  Last I knew SIDS is a catch-all for ‘unknown reasons’. 

SIDS is the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history. (Willinger et al, 1991).

If they were to put those now ‘unknown cause’ cases back into the original definition of SIDS, that would mean it HAS increased, not decreased.

If you research back before the mid 1930’s, there was rarely a SIDS case. In 1928 doctors were questioning encephalitis occuring after vaccinations. ( the smallpox vaccine, and experiments with measles, scarlet fever toxins, diphtheria, pertussis and antitoxins, and pneumoococcus.)