The Silent Killer among Infants...

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome known as SIDS and the lack of answers is part of what makes this “crib death” so frightening. It's a frightening prospect because it can strike without warning, usually in seemingly healthy babies. Most SIDS deaths are associated with sleep and infants who die of SIDS show no signs of suffering. This topic is extremely dear to my heart because one of my good friends lost her baby boy to SIDS. Like the definition simply explains this syndrome attacks innocent infants in their sleep without anyone knowing until the next morning and of course by then it’s too late.

Although there is no number amount of risk factors leading up to SIDS, several risk factors combined may contribute to cause an at-risk infant to die of SIDS. The Immunization Safety Review Committee was established by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to evaluate the evidence of possible causal associations between immunizations and certain adverse outcomes. This year they focused on sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI) (Almario and Stratton, 2009).

The issue of association between immunization and SIDS is based on the fact that vaccines are routinely given during the period of the highest incidence of sudden infant death syndrome, which is between 2 and 4 months of age (Almario and Stratton, 2009). In this situation it is necessary to answer the question if the use of vaccines contributes to an increased risk of SIDS or if it is just a coincidence.

Although the rate of SIDS is declining dramatically, about 2,500 infants still die each year from SIDS in the United States. And there are those who believe that vaccinations are responsible for some of these deaths, the theory still has not yet been confirmed. Most deaths due to SIDS occur between 2 and 4 months of age, and incidence increases during cold weather. African-American infants are twice as likely and Native American infants are about three times more likely to die of SIDS than Caucasian infants. More boys than girls fall victim to SIDS (American Academy of Family Physicians, 2012).

There are some other potential risk factors that parents should use safety measures to prevent high risk of their children dying of SIDS, which are smoking, drinking, or drug use during pregnancy, poor prenatal care, prematurity or low birth weight, mothers younger than 20, tobacco smoke exposure following birth, overheating from excessive sleepwear and bedding and, of course, stomach sleeping (American Academy of Family Physicians, 2012).

Even though this is a syndrome every parent dreads of ever having to deal with – a responsible parent would definitely take the precautions to prevent this from happening to their child. SIDS does not discriminate of race, ethnic or part of the world the child lives in. Parents must take all necessary preventative measures.

References:

Almario, D. and Stratton, K. (2009). Immunization Safety Review: Vaccinations and Sudden Unexpected Death in Infancy.  Institute of Medicine, Immunization Safety Review Committee, Board of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. Retrieved on March 6, 2012 from http://sids.org

American Academy of Family Physicians. (2012). Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Retrieved on March 6, 2012 from http://kidshealth.org