Regional Infant and Child Mortality Review Committee 2010 final report

The 2010 annual report of the Regional Infant and Child Mortality Review Committee (RICMRC) is presented. Since 1997, RICMRC has sought to achieve its mission to "review infant and child deaths so that information can be transformed into action to protect young lives." For the year 2010, the Committee reviewed 15 deaths from Minnehaha, Turner, Lincoln, Moody, Lake, McCook, Union, Hanson, Miner and Brookings counties that met the following criteria: Children under age 18 dying subsequent to hospital discharge following delivery. Children who either died in these counties from causes sustained in them, or residents who died elsewhere from causes sustained in the 10-county region. The acronym SUID (Sudden Unexpected Infant Death) is being increasingly used by investigators of infant deaths. SUID is an intentionally broad category used for any sudden infant death when the cause of death is unapparent or multifactorial. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a subset of SUID, which in addition to SIDS includes sudden unexpected infant deaths of any cause. One death categorized as SIDS occurred in 2010. The committee has observed a stable decline in the number of deaths due to SIDS for the last several years with the exception of two SIDS deaths that occurred in 2008. The national SIDS rate of 0.57 per 1000 live births' would suggest that our region should have one SIDS death per year. It would appear that on average, our region's SIDS incidence is close to that number. Many investigators believe that a "diagnostic drift" is occurring in the SIDS determination. These investigators believe that some deaths certified as SIDS in earlier years may now be classified as "undetermined," or in the new terminology, SUID. Overall the number of SUID deaths has remained relatively stable over the last decade. In those years when there were spikes of infant deaths, the increases were largely due to an increase in the number of "undetermined" deaths. The majority of our "undetermined" manners of infant death appear to be related to concerns about possible asphyxial risks (e.g., overlaying, re-breathing and true suffocation) emphasizing the need to promote safe sleeping environments. Only one motor vehicle-related child death occurred in 2010, which represents a steady decline in deaths from a peak of nine deaths in 2005.