What Is the Chance of SIDS Occurring on the Same Day as Vaccinations?
The Real Truth About Vaccines
As a pediatrician and parent of four children, I am keenly aware that SIDS is something that scares most parents, often leading to many sleepless nights.
And of course, it is a great tragedy when a baby dies because of SIDS.
What Is the Chance of SIDS Occurring on the Same Day as Vaccinations?
Still, we should not let anti-vaccine influences use those SIDS deaths and compound that tragedy to scare parents away from vaccinating and protecting their kids.
How do they do that?
They do it by trying to make people think that vaccines are associated with SIDS, something they have been doing since the 1970s, when they blamed the DPT vaccine on SIDS.
Of course, they were wrong.
The DPT vaccine didn’t cause SIDS.
Neither did the hepatitis B vaccine, nor any other vaccine.
Also know that a removed study about VAERS reports, the cornerstone of their evidence, is not proof that vaccines are associated with SIDS!!!
But then, if vaccines are not associated with SIDS, why does SIDS sometimes happen on the same day or soon after a baby has their vaccines?
To understand that, know that:
infants routinely get vaccines at 2, 4, and 6 months
and, in the United States, tragically, there are about 4 SIDS deaths each day (background rate)
Then realize, just by chance, there will be at least three days when both things might coincide - getting vaccinated and the background rate of SIDS.
And each year, that can lead to at least twelve infants who might have gotten their vaccines on the same day that they later died from SIDS. Not because vaccines are associated with SIDS, but just as a coincidence.
“But, with millions upon millions of doses given each year to infants in the first 6 months of life across industrialized countries and with sudden infant death syndrome being the most common cause of infant death among infants 1 month or older, the coincidence of SIDS following DTP vaccination just by chance will be relatively frequent. When the two events occur, with SIDS following vaccination, well-meaning and intelligent people will blame the vaccine. They seek order out of randomly occurring events.”
A taxonomy of reasoning flaws in the anti-vaccine movement
But how do we know it is just a coincidence?
Well, for one thing, a non-retracted study showed it.
“Although coincident vaccination and SIDS should not be a frequent problem, it can be expected to occur at least annually in Australia by chance alone. The probabilities of vaccination by age estimated in this study can also be applied to estimate the probability of a vaccination encounter for children who have experienced any unusual medical condition or death, when these occurrences are known to be unrelated to vaccination.”
Probability of coincident vaccination in the 24 or 48 hours preceding sudden infant death syndrome death in Australia
And don’t forget that infants who are vaccinated appear to have a much lower risk of SIDS!
“Immunisations are associated with a halving of the risk of SIDS.”
Do immunisations reduce the risk for SIDS? A meta-analysis
What else?
The risk of SIDS went down tremendously with the back to sleep campaign recommendations by the AAP in 1994.
Recommendations to reduce the risk of SIDS that have evolved over the years, are now called Safe to Sleep, and include advice about room sharing instead of bedsharing, the protective role of breastfeeding and getting immunized, avoiding overheating, using pacifiers, and getting regular prenatal care, etc.
And consider what happened in Sweden…
Are you satisfied that vaccines aren’t associated with SIDS?
If not, consider what happened in Japan…
Are you satisfied that vaccines aren’t associated with SIDS now?
If not, know that Spain has a very low rate of SIDS, their infants get more vaccines than infants in the United States, and they have very high vaccination rates!
And here is one more bit of evidence if you still need some convincing.
In what would likely be statistically impossible if vaccines are associated with SIDS, over time and in many different studies, the median age for when infants are at the highest risk for SIDS is remarkably consistent.
You can also see this when you look at the peak age for SIDS from different countries, even when they have very different immunization schedules.
What else?
Tragically, there are reports of SIDS in unvaccinated children.
Lastly, know that DOGE cuts to the back to sleep campaign were very dangerous, and we were lucky that Congress restored the program, even if it wasn’t restored to its previous funding levels and status.
Still, grants related to SIDS were cut and will likely lead to more kids dying from SIDS.
Bottom line - the only association between vaccines and SIDS is that vaccines may decrease an infant’s risk of SIDS.
More on SIDS
Is There Any Historical Evidence Connecting Vaccination to SIDS?
Are Package Inserts Evidence That Vaccines Cause SIDS and Autism?
Did 79.4% of the Reported Child Deaths to VAERS Get a Vaccine on the Day They Died?
Caring for the SUDC Family: Medical and Bereavement Information for the Clinicians’ Consideration
Trump cuts baby 'Safe to Sleep' team. Here's what parents should know