VACCINE RESOURCE COMMITTEE

of the Edmonton Zone Medical Staff Association

View Full List of Vaccine Questions Here

General Vaccine Question #17:

Do vaccines cause sudden infant death syndrome?

The evidence accumulated over many years does not show any links between childhood immunization and SIDS.

SIDS is the sudden, unexpected death of a baby younger than 1 year of age that doesn’t have a known cause even after a complete investigation.

Babies receive multiple vaccines when they are between 2 to 4 months old. This age range is also the peak age for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). The timing of the 2 month and 4 month shots and SIDS has led some people to question whether they might be related. However, studies have found that vaccines do not cause and are not linked to SIDS.

Multiple research studies and safety reviews have looked at possible links between vaccines and SIDS.

In 1992, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended that healthy babies be placed on their backs to sleep. That recommendation, along with the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's 1994 "Back-to-Sleep" campaign (now known as the Safe to Sleep® campaign), encouraged caregivers to place infants on their backs to sleep, and coincided with a dramatic reduction in the SIDS rate in the United States. See the latest recommendations on a safe infant sleep environment from the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Also, research has found the rate of SIDS declined dramatically following the 1994 "Back-to-Sleep" campaign, and then stabilized in the 2000s at a time when the number of infant immunizations was increasing. The findings provide strong evidence that immunization is not linked to SIDS. See the published article on SIDS rates.

Sources

CDC- Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and Vaccines
American Academy of Pediatrics: SIDS and Other Sleep-Related Infant Deaths: Updated 2016 Recommendations for a Safe Infant Sleeping Environment