Researchers

Find Sudden Unexplained Deaths Rose for Black Infants

By Stacy M. Brown

NNPA NEWSWIRE SR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT

A new study has shown a huge racial difference in infant deaths. Researchers have found that babies born to African Americans had the highest rate of sudden unexpected deaths in 2020. The authors concluded that Black infants die nearly three times the rate of white babies.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released research on March 13, 2023, that found a 15 percent increase in sudden infant deaths among babies of all races from 2019 to 2020. In the United States, SIDS is the third leading cause of infant death after congenital abnormalities and premature birth.

The authors attributed the rise in SIDS cases to diagnostic shifting, where causes of death are reclassified. They said the rise in deaths among Black infants happened at the same time the coronavirus pandemic started in late 2019.

The virus disproportionately affected Black communities. “Evidence does not support direct or indirect effects of the pandemic on in creased rates of sudden unexpected infant death, except for n on-Hispanic Black infants,” the study authors stated.

See INFANTS page 2