SIDS Risk Factors: Time for New Interpretations. The Role of Bacteria

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to help draw attention to perceived ideas regarding the risk factors and the implied pathogenesis of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and SIDS research in general. Our paper shows there is little if any evidence to support the broadly held notion of an association between respiratory function and sudden infant death syndrome. Researchers who hold to this approach to explain the risk factors of bed-sharing and prone sleep position, etc. have failed to meet the standards of scientific endeavour that we would expect of good research. To counter this imbalance we have proposed an evidence-based explanation for SIDS risk factors showing that microbiological studies of SIDS corroborate epidemiologic and pathological data in establishing a plausible pathogenetic mechanism. We reviewed recent publications on current research and the epidemiology of SIDS and publications on the microbiology of SIDS. Conclusion: Comparison of the data presented, suggest that the risk factors of bed-sharing, and smoke exposure, prone sleep position and alcohol can be explained by the theories of a microbiological infection model of SIDS pathogenesis.