This is a huge step in the right direction. We can’t have an informed discussion about kids dying until we really know how many died and WHY they died. I hope that this database will also track how many of these kids died from cardiac events. Did you know that research from Dr. Michael Ackerman at Mayo suggests that up to 30% of all unexplained infant deaths are attributed to a cardiac arrhythmia?
In recent years, the number of reported cases of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) has declined, with a 50 percent drop reported since 1990.
While that’s good news on the surface, researchers are now hoping to determine whether this is due to true public health improvements, or is simply a difference in how deaths are recorded, by creating a new database. Details about how the database, called the Sudden Unexpected Infant Death Case Registry, will help researchers answer the questions that surround SIDS are described today in an article by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Right now, when we want to do surveillance and actually monitor trends in SIDS and other infant deaths… we’re limited by the data collected [in U.S. mortality records],” said article co-author Carrie Shapiro-Mendoza, a senior scientist at the CDC.
