Study: Vaccines, Crib Death Not Connected
Posted on: Thursday, 13 March 2003, 06:00 CST
Associated Press -- While crib death occurs most often at the age when babies are receiving multiple vaccinations, there is no evidence the two are related, a study concludes.
The Institute of Medicine report released Wednesday reinforces other studies that found no relationship between the vaccines and SIDS. Many parents became concerned about vaccines after an Australian researcher in the 1980s argued that there was a connection.
"Although the timing of infant vaccinations coincides with the period when SIDS is most likely to occur, parents should rest assured that the number and variety of childhood vaccines do not cause SIDS," said Marie McCormick, head of the committee that wrote the report.
There were 2,523 SIDS deaths in the United States in 2000, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. That was down from 5,417 in 1990. SIDS deaths have declined in recent years following a campaign to instruct adults to place babies on their backs while they sleep and to keep them away from soft bedding materials that could interfere with babies' breathing.
The available data do not answer all possible questions about SIDS and vaccines, said McCormick, head of the department of maternal and child health at Harvard School of Public Health.
"However, we believe that the data we do have, along with the increasing rarity of these kinds of infant deaths, make a review of the vaccine schedule unnecessary," she said.
Most American children get several vaccines during their first 12 months, including the combined diptheria-whooping cough-tetanus vaccine and immunizations against influenza, hepatitis B, polio and pneumococcal bacteria. Whooping cough is also known as pertussis.
Medical experts have not reached agreement on how SIDS occurs. It is the diagnosis most often used in cases of infant death without warning for which no cause is identified.
The campaign to have babies placed on their backs to sleep is based on the theory that their position may contribute to SIDS. Other possibilities are an underlying physical problem during a critical development period or exposure to some outside trigger, the report said.
Some research suggests that an abnormal immune response to common respiratory bacteria or viruses may be a factor in SIDS. But the committee said there are no studies demonstrating the ability of vaccines to lead to that kind of response.
The Institute of Medicine is a private institution that provides health policy advice under a congressional charter granted to the National Academy of Sciences.
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