Growth and Development Q 37
One of the participants attending a parenting class asks the teacher “What is the leading cause of death during the first month of life?
A. Bacterial sepsis
B. Respiratory distress of newborn
C. SIDS
D. Neonatal hemorrhage
Correct Answer: C. SIDS
According to the CDC, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) remains to be one of the leading causes of infant death. Around 1,300 infants died in 2018 due to this condition. SIDS is defined as the sudden and unexplained death of a baby younger than 1-year-old. Most of the deaths happened between the ages of one and 6 months. Factors that increase the risk of SIDS include stomach sleeping, a sibling who died of SIDS, mothers who smoke during pregnancy, exposure to secondhand smoking, sleeping areas containing soft blankets, pillows, or toys, and a lack of prenatal care.
Option A: Neonatal sepsis refers to an infection involving the bloodstream in newborn infants less than 28 days old. It remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among neonates, especially in middle and lower-income countries. Due to the nonspecific neonatal presentation for sepsis and the high risk of mortality and morbidity without treatment, many asymptomatic neonates undergo a sepsis workup if risk factors are present and/or clinically indicated.
Option B: As the most common cause of respiratory distress in premature infants, RDS occurs in about 24,000 infants born in the United States annually. It is also the most common complication of prematurity leading to significant morbidity in late preterm neonates and even mortality in very low birth weight infants.
Option D: Neonatal hemorrhage is also part of the leading causes of infant mortality but occurs less often than SIDS. All infants irrespective of race, sex, color, religion, national origin, etc. are known to be affected by vitamin K deficiency bleeding. In early VKDB, the incidence in infants who have not received vitamin K prophylaxis ranges from about 6% to 12%. In classic VKDB, the incidence has gone down from 0.25% to 1.5% in earlier studies to 0.01% to 0.44% in recent studies.