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Immunisation is not linked to sudden infant death

The UK accelerated immunisation programme and sudden infant death in infancy: case-control study

Vaccination against diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis is now given at ages 2, 3 and 4 months in the UK, which coincides with the peak age for the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). However, a study in this week's BMJ finds that immunisation is not linked to sudden unexpected death in infancy and may even protect against it.

All sudden unexpected deaths (both explained and unexplained) of infants aged 1 week to 1 year in five regions of England were investigated over a period of three years. For each death, parental interviews were conducted. Four age-matched control families were also visited within two weeks of each death.

Immunisation uptake was lowest among the infants who died, even after taking account of all potential bias. Furthermore, no relation was found between the time of vaccination and time of death, signs and symptoms of illness before death, or sudden unexpected deaths due to explained causes, particularly infection. These results suggest that, when all potentially confounding factors are controlled for, immunisation does not contribute to the risk of SIDS and may protect against it, say the authors.

They conclude: "the accelerated immunisation programme in the United Kingdom is not associated with sudden unexpected death in infancy, whether the death is explained or unexplained."

Contact:

Peter Fleming, Professor of Infant Health and Developmental Physiology, Institute of Child Health, Royal Hospital for Children, Bristol, UK Email: peter.fleming@bris.ac.uk

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