Australian researchers, led by Dr Carmel Harrington, have identified a biomarker that can detect babies more at risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) while they are alive. After losing her son, Damien, to SIDS 29 years ago, Dr Harrington, a research student at Children's Hospital at Westmead (CHW) has dedicated her career to finding answers for the condition.
SIDS is the unexplained death of a healthy infant less than one year of age, during a period of sleep. In India, as per a 2019 data, 32 infant deaths occur per 1000 live births. In 2019, the sudden unexpected infant deaths rate in the US was 90.1 deaths per 100,000 live births. SIDS is one of the leading causes of sudden unexpected infant deaths in the US though its rates have declined from 130.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 1990 to 33.3 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019 as per a report by the US CDC.
