March 13, 2023 —Sudden unexplained infant deaths amongst blacks rose sharply in 2020 in comparison with the previous yr, in line with a CDC study published within the journal Pediatrics.
The SUID rate amongst black infants was 214 per 100,000 live births in 2020, down from 189.9 in 2019. Among white infants, the SUID rate decreased from 78.8 in 2019 to 75.6 in 2020. Among American Indian or Alaska Native infants, the SUID rate was 205.1 in 2020, down from 207.4 in 2019.
SUIDs is a classification of kid deaths that features the more common sudden infant death syndrome, accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed, and unknown causes. Overall, SUID rates within the United States increased barely, from 89.5% in 2019 to 92.1% in 2020.
The study says the evidence doesn’t show that the COVID pandemic has had an impact on SUID rates, except amongst blacks. The increase in black infants reflects “societal failure,” it says a comment accompanying your studies.
“These disparities are likely multifactorial and reflect levels of poverty, lack of access to prenatal and healthy child care and education about safe sleep and other behaviors, including breast milk feeding, which may reduce the risk of SUID, as well as social norms associated with these behaviors, which vary across communities,” the commentary said.
About half of sudden infant deaths are sudden infant death syndrome. The rate of sudden infant death syndrome increased 15% across all groups from 2019 to 2020, moving from the fourth leading reason for death in infants to the third leading cause, the study said. However, the rise could also be as a result of “changing diagnostic criteria” in classifying infant deaths on death certificates quite than an actual increase, the study said.
The overall infant mortality rate reached a record low in 2020: 541.9 infant deaths per 100,000 live births. That's a decrease of 1.17% from 2019, the CDC says.