Sudden infant death syndrome may have genetic basis, study suggests

By Mark Lieber, CNN

Updated 2230 GMT (0630 HKT) March 28, 2018

Familiar with the Back to Sleep campaign to eliminate sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS, one of the leading causes of infant death? Called <a href="https://www.nichd.nih.gov/sts/campaign/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">Safe to Sleep</a> today, it urges parents to put babies to sleep on their backs, never on the stomach, until age 1. Since the start of the campaign in 1994, SIDS rates have dropped by half, which is why it was chosen by the American Academy of Pediatrics as one of the <a href="https://www.aap.org/en-us/advocacy-and-policy/aap-health-initiatives/7-great-achievements/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">most important achievements in children's health</a> in the past 40 years.
Photos: 7 medical advancements that saved children's lives
Familiar with the Back to Sleep campaign to eliminate sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS, one of the leading causes of infant death? Called Safe to Sleep today, it urges parents to put babies to sleep on their backs, never on the stomach, until age 1. Since the start of the campaign in 1994, SIDS rates have dropped by half, which is why it was chosen by the American Academy of Pediatrics as one of the most important achievements in children's health in the past 40 years.
Hide Caption
1 of 7
Routine vaccinations are life-saving for many children. Just look at polio, which once killed or disabled thousands, and which has now been eradicated in the United States due to vaccination efforts. Before vaccines were developed, for example, rotavirus killed about 450,000 children worldwide each year. In the United States, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) took the lives of 1,200 annually.
Photos: 7 medical advancements that saved children's lives
Routine vaccinations are life-saving for many children. Just look at polio, which once killed or disabled thousands, and which has now been eradicated in the United States due to vaccination efforts. Before vaccines were developed, for example, rotavirus killed about 450,000 children worldwide each year. In the United States, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) took the lives of 1,200 annually.
Hide Caption
2 of 7
The most common childhood cancer in the United States today is acute lymphocytic leukemia, striking nearly 3,000 children a year. In 1975, it was a death sentence, but after years of research new medication combos, today 90% of newly diagnosed children are expected to live five years or more.
Photos: 7 medical advancements that saved children's lives
The most common childhood cancer in the United States today is acute lymphocytic leukemia, striking nearly 3,000 children a year. In 1975, it was a death sentence, but after years of research new medication combos, today 90% of newly diagnosed children are expected to live five years or more.
Hide Caption
3 of 7
The main cause of death for newborns around the world, says the American Academy of Pediatrics, is being born premature. About 450,000 babies a year, or one in nine, are born prematurely in the US alone. Adding a surfactant, or lubricant, to the lungs of a newborn helps them breathe. After it was implemented in 1985, preemie deaths from respiratory distress syndrome dropped by 41% over the next six years.
Photos: 7 medical advancements that saved children's lives
The main cause of death for newborns around the world, says the American Academy of Pediatrics, is being born premature. About 450,000 babies a year, or one in nine, are born prematurely in the US alone. Adding a surfactant, or lubricant, to the lungs of a newborn helps them breathe. After it was implemented in 1985, preemie deaths from respiratory distress syndrome dropped by 41% over the next six years.
Hide Caption
4 of 7
In pregnancy, HIV can be transmitted from mother to baby by blood during pregnancy, via vaginal secretions during childbirth, and during breastfeeding after birth. The rate of transmission used to be as high as 40%, but after research discovered an anti-retroviral medication called Zidovudine, the rate decreased by two-thirds.
Photos: 7 medical advancements that saved children's lives
In pregnancy, HIV can be transmitted from mother to baby by blood during pregnancy, via vaginal secretions during childbirth, and during breastfeeding after birth. The rate of transmission used to be as high as 40%, but after research discovered an anti-retroviral medication called Zidovudine, the rate decreased by two-thirds.
Hide Caption
5 of 7
In sickle cell anemia, an inherited disorder, red blood cells become hard, sticky and form a C-shaped "sickle." Those sickle cells die early, which causes a constant shortage of red blood cells, extreme pain, infection and often, strokes. In 1975, a child with sickle cell disease would likely die by age 14, but medical advances have increased the current life expectancy to age 40.
Photos: 7 medical advancements that saved children's lives
In sickle cell anemia, an inherited disorder, red blood cells become hard, sticky and form a C-shaped "sickle." Those sickle cells die early, which causes a constant shortage of red blood cells, extreme pain, infection and often, strokes. In 1975, a child with sickle cell disease would likely die by age 14, but medical advances have increased the current life expectancy to age 40.
Hide Caption
6 of 7
One in three children who die in auto accidents aren't protected by seat belts or car seats, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Since the implementation of laws and <a href="https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/seat-belts" target="_blank">national awareness campaigns</a> such as Click It or Ticket, deaths have plummeted. In children younger than a year, for example, the proper use of car seats has reduced deaths by 71%.
Photos: 7 medical advancements that saved children's lives
One in three children who die in auto accidents aren't protected by seat belts or car seats, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Since the implementation of laws and national awareness campaigns such as Click It or Ticket, deaths have plummeted. In children younger than a year, for example, the proper use of car seats has reduced deaths by 71%.
Hide Caption
7 of 7
06 7 pediatric achievements RESTRICTED01 7 pediatric achievements04 7 pediatric achievements RESTRICTED05 7 pediatric achievements RESTRICTED02 7 pediatric achievements01 Sickle cell anemia03 7 pediatric achievements

Story highlights

  • SIDS is the leading cause of death of infants older than 1 month in high-income countries
  • Monitoring babies to ensure that they sleep on their backs could cut chance of SIDS by up to 60%

(CNN)Sudden infant death syndrome -- long regarded as an unexplained phenomenon affecting apparently healthy children under 1 -- may have a genetic basis in some cases, a new study suggests.