Enteral bacterial infection as a possible cause of cot death

At post mortems performed in cases of cot death, the cause of death has been established as due to a variety of pathological changes. In connection with the anamnesis data, inflammation in the region of the respiratory system, especially of the lungs, infections of the gastrointestinal tract, otitis media and electrolyte shifts can in many cases be traced back to a common origin, if we assume a bacterioenterotoxin poisoning (which takes a different course in infants than in older children or adults). Extensive inquiries prior to the post mortem, autopsies performed always by the same method, as well as all the ensuing examinations, are indispensable in order to explain the cause of the sudden death and to make sure that the results of the post mortem are not influenced by the importance the pathologist attributes to a certain method of examination.