Data finds higher risk to siblings of SUDI victims

SIBLINGS of infants who have died suddenly and unexpectedly run 10 times the risk of dying in the same way, a study of long-term data has found.

Research published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) concluded that affected parents need extra help to cut the risks of a repeat death.

The findings, made by researchers linked to the University of Birmingham, Sheffield University, London’s School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the NHS, are based on a care-of-next infant (CONI) programme established in 1988.

Data covering infants registered on the programme between 2000 and 2015 showed a recurrent sudden unexpected death of almost four per 1,000, more than 10-times higher than the UK rate.

Published online in the BMJ’s Archives of Disease in Childhood, the research paper said each year in England and Wales up to 400 children suffer a sudden unexpected death in infancy (SUDI).

The CONI programme, set up to allay parental anxieties about another child dying in the same way and minimise risks, started in 1988 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The programme includes regular home visits from a health visitor until the child is at least six months old, and the provision of breathing monitors, basic life support training, symptom diaries and weight charts.

Repeat SUDIs were rare, with only 29 such deaths reported in 26 families between 2000 and 2015.

This equals a rate for infants born in families with one previous SUDI of nearly 4 per 1,000, which is more than 10 times the UK rate of unexplained infant deaths of 0.31 per 1,000 live births in 2016, and more than nine times higher than the rate of 0.43 per 1,000 in 2006.

The explanations for the first deaths were sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) in 11 cases, unascertained in eight cases, medical in three, accidental suffocation in two, and murder/probable murder in two. The causes of deaths among the SUDI siblings were SIDS in 10 cases, unascertained in five, medical in four, accidental suffocation in six, and murder/probable murder in four.

Modifiable risk factors for SUDI include a mother who smokes before and after the birth, unsafe sleeping such as sharing a bed/sofa with a parent who has used illegal drugs, and child abuse/neglect.

The study’s authors, who cautioned that the figures may be an underestimate as CONI is a voluntary initiative, noted: “There was a high prevalence of risk factors in all cases, reflecting the extreme vulnerability of infants.”