Immunisation to prevent cot deaths

A scientific study has suggested that immunisation can protect against cot deaths in babies.Sudden infant death syndrome is still the leading cause of death in children over one month old,even though advice given to mothers about babies'sleeping position has dramatically reduced the numbers of deaths.

Scientists from Bristol University looked at more than 470,000 cot death cases from between 1984 and 1994, checking to see if they had been immunised or not. They found that only half the babies who had died from cot death had been immunised. Two-thirds of the live babies had taken part.

Among children of three or more months old, 68% of cot death victims had received the vaccines, compared with 95% of the surviving children. Report author Peter Fleming said "Our data suggest that immunisation does not contribute to the risk of sudden infant death syndrome and may protect againstit."

Although some traditional advice was to lay a baby on its front in its cot to relieve digestive problems such as colic, parents are now urged to lie the baby down on its back instead to protect from cot death.