Sudden Infants for Death Syndrome - MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theSudden Infantsfor Death Syndrome. Answer: When the etiology for infant death is unknown, it is called as SIDS. SIDS is a term that refers to any sudden, un-expected and/or unexplained death of any infant (1 years of age) that occurs during sleep that remains detectable even after a complete investigation (complete autopsy, assessment of death circumstances and clinical history). Though the incidence of SIDS has dramatically declined in the past 2 decades, it forms the biggest cause of infant deaths in developed countries. In 2015, 113 infants (0.4 per 1,000 Births) have died suddenly as well as unexpectedly in Australia (including SIDS)[1]. This was found to be decreased from a higher rate of 0.84 per 1,000 live births in 2014. Nearly 90% of the SIDS deaths occur below 6 months of age, with peak incidences from 2 - 4 months. More boy babies are found to die of SIDS than girls. Higher rate of SIDS is noted in racial discriminated groups (indigenous Australians, New Zealand- Maoris, etc). The risk reduction policies to prevent SIDS in Australia includes placing all the infants on back while sleeping except sick infants who requires prone position (continuously monitored for cardiac-respiratory status and nurse observation), providing safe cots as per Australian- standards (AS/NZS 2172), providing smoke-free and separate environment , allowing use of pacifiers in premature infants as per Australian standards (AS 243-1991)[2]. In Australia, before implementing risk-reduction policies, sudden-unexpected infantile deaths (SUDI) (1989- 2014) was found to be 4,808. After implementing risk reduction strategy campaigns, 80% of the SUDI deaths were decreased significantly and 8,959 infant lives were saved[3]. This shows that the number of SIDS was reduced significantly after the implementation of risk- reduction policies.