A new study of San Diego babies who died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome shows almost all were exposed to at least one known risk factor. Researchers believe more public education on SIDS is needed.
The study examined SIDS deaths from 1991 to 2008.
It found the percentage of babies who were being placed on their stomachs to sleep declined. But the percentage of babies exposed to other risk factors, including the sharing of a bed or sleeping in an adult bed, increased.
Lead researcher Dr. Henry Krous directs the San Diego SIDS Research Project at Rady Children's Hospital.
"The SIDS rate has plateaued over the last five, six, seven years," Krous pointed out. "And I think the reason for that is that we still have too many babies exposed to too many risk factors."
Dr. Krous said an infant's risk of SIDS is greatly reduced by the simultaneous avoidance of all of risk factors.
His study is published in the April 2012 edition of the journal Pediatrics.