The Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in Hospitalized Babies

"If infants die because, while passing through a period of increased physiological vulnerability, some critical combination of intrinsic and extrinsic factors proves lethal, then it would be strange if death occurs only in the course of minor and not major illnesses. Is it possible that sudden unexplained death does happen in hospital, but is not recognized as such because the major diagnosis is judged to be the cause of death, or do the resuscitative measures which are readily available prevent it?" This provocative question, posed in an editorial in late 1971,1 drew a response from Raphael, who submitted rather convincing evidence of an instance of sudden unexplained infant death in a Canadian hospital.2