Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital have discovered that Common infections could be a major cause of cot death.They investigated 546 sudden infant deaths and found that in half of the cases that were described as "unexplained", potentially dangerous bacteria were found in the baby's body.
Cot death can include cases in which a cause of death is found on examination but it cannot be determined why the baby died.
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The bugs included staphylococcus aureus and E.coli which can cause serious problems without any outward signs.
Not only this, but the bacteria were in almost the same concentrations as in cases where the cause of death was determined as infection.
The bugs were found in 16 per cent of the cot death cases where the cause of death had been unexplained compared with just six per cent where the death was due to non-infectious causes such as heart problems or accidents.
The research, published in The Lancet medical journal on 30th May, said these differences suggested that the infection with S.aureus and E.coli could be linked to the unexplained cot deaths.
May 2008
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