Sudden infant death syndrome – recent developments

Media coverage has focused recently on the question of cot deaths or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and how it is caused. It has been suggested that a cause of death may be connected with the infection of cot materials by fungi and/or bacteria which are naturally present in the environment.

In view of the amount of interest that this and related issues may generate among MPs’ constituents, this Briefing Note addresses the problem of SIDS and summarises the new findings and their implications.