The risk of sudden unexpected infant death (SUID) and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) increased during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic period, especially in 2021, according to a new study led by researchers at the Penn State College of Medicine. Monthly increases in SUID in 2021 coincided with a resurgence of seasonal respiratory viruses, particularly respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), suggesting that the shift in SUID rates may be associated with altered infectious disease transmission. They published their findings today, Sept.
26, in JAMA Network Open . "The cause of SUID is believed to be multi-factorial. Even with education about safe sleep environments and the back-to-sleep campaign encouraging parents to put babies to sleep on their backs, there's still a high rate of SUID," said Emma Guare, a fourth-year medical student at Penn State College of Medicine and first author of the paper.
"It's been hypothesized that there might be a link between infection and SUID and we wanted to better understand that connection, particularly as endemic infection rates shifted during the pandemic." In 2022, approximately 3,700 infants died unexpectedly in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). SUID is an umbrella term for unexpected death of an infant under the age of one year from known and unknown causes.
SIDS is a type of SUID that occurs during sleep and where the cause of death is not known, even after a full inv.
