H. pylori May Be Implicated in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
I try to stay away from articles on SIDS, but the association was very strong between H. pylori exposure and SIDS in this study.
Arch Dis Child 2000;83:429-434 “Infection has long been suspected to play a role in SIDS, and there is evidence implicating gastrointestinal infection,” lead researcher Dr. Jonathan R. Kerr of the University of Manchester, UK, told Reuters Health. “There is extensive overlap in the epidemiology of both H. pylori infection and SIDS,” he added. “Both are associated with poor communities, overcrowded living conditions, and show clustering within families.” Considering results for both sequences, 28 of 32 (88%) of SIDS cases showed evidence of H. pylori infection compared with only one of eight (12.5%) controls. The prevalence of H. pylori infection in infants in developed countries is generally less than 2%, so the 88% prevalence in this SIDS population is very high by comparison, Dr. Kerr said. “We have therefore identified a possible bacterial cause of SIDS, but emphasize that our findings must be independently confirmed,” he added. As for the connection between SIDS and H. pylori infection, Dr. Kerr and his colleagues theorize that “death may result from aspiration of stomach contents containing H. pylori urease into the lung with consequent release of ammonia into the circulation.”