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. 2017 Nov 14:5:223.
doi: 10.3389/fped.2017.00223. eCollection 2017.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Infection, Prone Sleep Position, and Vagal Neuroimmunology

Paul Nathan Goldwater  1
Affiliations

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, Infection, Prone Sleep Position, and Vagal Neuroimmunology

Paul Nathan Goldwater. Front Pediatr. .

Abstract

Recent findings suggest that infection (and sepsis) stand alone as the only plausible mechanism of causation of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and accordingly achieves congruence with all clinicopathological and epidemiological findings. This review examines the role of infection in the pathogenesis of SIDS in the context of the major risk factor of prone sleep position. The study explores how sleep position could interact with the immune system and inflammatory response via vagal neural connections, which could play key roles in gut and immune homeostasis. A plausible and congruent clinicopathological and epidemiological paradigm is suggested.

Keywords: infection; neuroimmunology; prone sleep position; sudden infant death syndrome; vagus.

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