rhiana
11-01-2002, 01:04 PM
This is a pretty scarey one. I know it's just in the preliminary stages of research but it's good to know it's even a possible risk, especially for all of us frugal people that might consider using a secondhand mattress.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scottish researchers have found that babies who sleep on secondhand crib mattresses seem to be at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
However, it is not clear if the mattress itself is the cause of the association. Some unrelated factor may be responsible for the link, according to the report published in the November 2nd issue of the British Medical Journal.
Sudden infant death syndrome is the leading cause of death for babies between 1 month and 1 year old, and the risk is greatest between 2 and 4 months of age. It is diagnosed when the cause of death remains unexplained and all other possibilities have been eliminated--such as infection, asphyxia, dehydration or child abuse.
In 1997, the same group of researchers from the Scottish Cot Death Trust at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow reported an association between SIDS deaths and the use of secondhand mattresses. Now, in an effort to confirm their findings, lead author Dr. David Tappin and colleagues conducted another study.
Tappin's team compared 131 children who died of SIDS between 1996 and 2000 with 278 healthy infants, and found that babies who died of SIDS were roughly three times as likely as other children to have regularly slept on a mattress that was previously used by another child.
"The association was significantly stronger if the mattress was from another home than if it was from the same home," the researchers report.
"As our findings are statistically robust over a range of statistical approaches, we conclude that there is a valid statistical association between sudden infant death syndrome and use of an infant mattress previously used by another child, particularly if from another home," the authors write.
However, the evidence is insufficient to determine if the mattress was actually the cause of the higher risk, they conclude.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Ed A. Mitchell of the University of Auckland in New Zealand points out that one possible explanation is that potentially toxic bacteria might grow in the mattress after it becomes repeatedly soaked with milk, urine or saliva. Such bacteria might contribute to illness or death of the second infant.
Nonetheless, Mitchell cautions that more research needs to be conducted to see if such a theory has any validity.
"In the meantime," Mitchell writes, "the advice to parents should remain as internationally agreed: place your baby to sleep on his or her back (and) create a smoke-free environment for your baby during pregnancy and after birth."
SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2002;325:981-982,1007-1009.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Scottish researchers have found that babies who sleep on secondhand crib mattresses seem to be at higher risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).
However, it is not clear if the mattress itself is the cause of the association. Some unrelated factor may be responsible for the link, according to the report published in the November 2nd issue of the British Medical Journal.
Sudden infant death syndrome is the leading cause of death for babies between 1 month and 1 year old, and the risk is greatest between 2 and 4 months of age. It is diagnosed when the cause of death remains unexplained and all other possibilities have been eliminated--such as infection, asphyxia, dehydration or child abuse.
In 1997, the same group of researchers from the Scottish Cot Death Trust at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow reported an association between SIDS deaths and the use of secondhand mattresses. Now, in an effort to confirm their findings, lead author Dr. David Tappin and colleagues conducted another study.
Tappin's team compared 131 children who died of SIDS between 1996 and 2000 with 278 healthy infants, and found that babies who died of SIDS were roughly three times as likely as other children to have regularly slept on a mattress that was previously used by another child.
"The association was significantly stronger if the mattress was from another home than if it was from the same home," the researchers report.
"As our findings are statistically robust over a range of statistical approaches, we conclude that there is a valid statistical association between sudden infant death syndrome and use of an infant mattress previously used by another child, particularly if from another home," the authors write.
However, the evidence is insufficient to determine if the mattress was actually the cause of the higher risk, they conclude.
Commenting on the study, Dr. Ed A. Mitchell of the University of Auckland in New Zealand points out that one possible explanation is that potentially toxic bacteria might grow in the mattress after it becomes repeatedly soaked with milk, urine or saliva. Such bacteria might contribute to illness or death of the second infant.
Nonetheless, Mitchell cautions that more research needs to be conducted to see if such a theory has any validity.
"In the meantime," Mitchell writes, "the advice to parents should remain as internationally agreed: place your baby to sleep on his or her back (and) create a smoke-free environment for your baby during pregnancy and after birth."
SOURCE: British Medical Journal 2002;325:981-982,1007-1009.