WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The 11 different vaccines that virtually all U.S. children are given as babies do not cause crib death, or sudden infant death syndrome, U.S. medical advisers said on Wednesday. They said they could find no evidence that the combined diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus vaccine caused SIDS, although an older version of the DTP vaccine that is no longer used might have caused a rare and severe inflammatory reaction called anaphylaxis.
The report from the Institute of Medicine is the latest in a series that have cleared childhood vaccinations of causing a range of ills, from autism to sudden death. "Although the timing of infant vaccinations coincides with the period when SIDS is most likely to occur, parents should rest assured that the number and variety of childhood vaccines do not cause SIDS," Dr. Marie McCormick, who led the committee, said in a statement.
"We do not have the data that would definitively answer all questions about links between vaccines and SIDS and other forms of sudden, unexpected death in infancy. "However, we believe that the data we do have, along with the increasing rarity of these kinds of infant deaths, make a review of the vaccine schedule unnecessary," added McCormick, who is chairwoman of the department of maternal and child health at the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston.
SIDS is most strongly linked with putting babies to sleep on their tummies and wrapping them up in smothering blankets and soft mattresses. A campaign to educate about the benefits of laying babies on their backs has slashed the SIDS rate in half. Smoking around babies is also linked with crib death.
The rate of infant deaths in the United States has fallen from 9.2 deaths per 1,000 live births in 1990 to 6.9 per 1,000 in 2000. The Institute of Medicine, one of the National Academies of Science, is an independent body that advises Congress and the federal government on health matters.