Taipei Times
Date: Jan 22, 2019
By: Lee I-chia  /  Staff reporter

A total of 165 babies have died of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) over the past five years, although placing a sleeping baby on their back can reduce the risk, the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) said yesterday.

SIDS, also known as “crib death,” is the death of a seemingly healthy baby of 12 months or younger that remains unexplained even after a thorough autopsy and detailed investigation of the death scene have been conducted.

The syndrome has been among the top 10 causes of infant death in Taiwan since 2008, the administration said, adding that there were 165 SIDS cases from 2013 to last year — about one to two babies out of every 10,000 live births — with 23 cases reported last year alone.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, SIDS is the third-leading cause of child mortality in the US, with about 1,900 cases a year, the HPA said.  [FULL  STORY]