Maternal Age, the Disparity across Regions and Their Correlation to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Taiwan: A Nationwide Cohort Study

Sudden Infant Death Associated with Rhinovirus Infection

A less than one-month-old infant with symptoms of rhinitis died unexpectedly in his sleep. He was not born prematurely and had no known underlying disease. Cerebrospinal fluid, nasopharyngeal and lung samples, and rectal swab were found to be positive for subgroup A rhinovirus, while the blood was negative. This case highlights the important finding that the rhinovirus, a common pathogen associated with upper respiratory tract infections, can sometimes, as the only pathogen, lead to complications such as a cerebrospinal infection and be involved in the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Vigilance is necessary in case of viral infections in the infant's environment, and measures of hygiene and protection must be encouraged in order to reduce the risk of the SIDS.

New and Old Challenges in Pediatric Health Policies

Pediatric Health Policies represent a complex context, which integrates various aspects of children's health and well-being, along the continuum of fetal life, infancy, childhood and adolescence [...].

Is academic rigor in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) research in decline?

AIM

To determine how well definitions of SIDS in the literature are being cited and referenced.

METHODS

The "PubMed" database was searched for "sudden infant death syndrome" from 2020 to 2021. Of 421 original papers, 50 were randomly selected and checked to determine whether one of the three internationally accepted definitions of SIDS: Seattle, NICHD and San Diego definitions had been cited/quoted in the text and correctly referenced. Papers that incorrectly cited or did not cite one standard definitions were assigned into: (i) those that used mis-cited, idiosyncratic or other (alternative, non-standard) definitions and, (ii) those where there was no definition.

RESULTS

Fifty-six per cent of papers correctly cited standard definitions, a 12% decrease from the 68% in a similar study in 2012. Of those only 22% both correctly cited/referenced one of the standard definitions. Major issues in 78% of papers involved citing one and referencing another standard definition (N = 7, 14%), citing or referencing alternative, non-standard definitions (N = 8, 16%) or not citing or referencing any definition (N = 24, 48%).

CONCLUSION

There is an increasing trend to not follow standard definitions of SIDS. This may hinder data interpretation where cases have not been appropriately defined and negatively impact upon the validity of SIDS research.