[Sudden infant death in France during the winter of 1986]

From the statistics of the medical causes of deaths and the results of a retrospective survey carried out among the physicians who certified the deaths, an analysis of post-neonatal mortality during winter of 1986 was undertaken in order to know if the relative part of the sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) had increased during that winter. It appeared that the deaths attributed to SIDS can be distinguished from deaths of other causes for several factors (place of death, former status of the baby). However, the low number of post mortem examinations performed does not allow in all the declared cases to assess SIDS as internationally defined. However, it is shown that sudden mortality was not higher during this special winter and that immunizations were not more frequently related to this cause than to other causes of death.