WHO to probe mystery deaths in young

By Karen Carstens

Date: 15/01/04

A WORLD Health Organization (WHO) decision to investigate the levels of mysterious sudden deaths among children and young adults has been welcomed by two UK Labour MEPs.

"This marks a small but significant step forward," said Linda McAvan (Yorkshire and the Humber).

"Identification of the scale of the problem is the necessary first step towards providing effective measures to stop it from happening."

Along with Scotland's Catherine Stihler, she had called last October, in a letter to the WHO, for it to officially recognize and name Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS).

This differs from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) among babies, which has been recognized by the WHO and addressed by doctors.

As a result, so-called cot deaths have fallen by up to 70% over the past decade, the two MEPs have pointed out.

Now the WHO has agreed that it is also "important to be able to count cases of sudden and unexplained deaths in children and young adults for statistical purposes", and plans a review of its own figures to account for such sudden unexplained deaths.

"This is a welcome advance for all those calling for Sudden Death Syndrome to be recognized," said Stihler.

"I want to pay tribute to the hard work of so many families in getting this far, and I hope the WHO will now go on to fully recognise SDS."

Campaigners have said that sudden death among children and adults could be claiming up to eight lives a week in the UK alone.

Sudden Death Syndrome is an umbrella term used for the many different causes of cardiac arrest in the young - usually defined as people under 35.

These conditions include a thickening or abnormal structure of the heart muscle and irregularities of the electrical impulses that upset the natural rhythm of the heart.

Such deaths are usually non-traumatic, non-violent and unexpected, resulting from cardiac arrest within as little as six hours of previously witnessed normal health.

The majority of young sudden deaths are due to inherited forms of heart muscle disorder and irregular heartbeat.

There have been many reported incidents of misdiagnosis which have culminated in tragedies that could have been avoided.

These are often the result of active and athletic youngsters with an undiagnosed underlying cardiac abnormality unwittingly putting undue stress on their hearts.

Meanwhile, SIDS remains the major cause of death in infants from one month to one year of age.

Most deaths are recorded between two to four months, according to an international Sudden Infant Death Syndrome network.

SIDS is associated with an often subtle and undetected harmful pre-natal environment and often strikes babies born to teenage mothers.

Maternal risk factors could include smoking during pregnancy, poor pre-natal care, low weight gain and a history of sexually transmitted diseases or urinary tract infection.