What is the context behind the incorrect claim on social media associating a decrease in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome with a decrease in immunization rates of infants during COVID-19?
What is the context behind the incorrect claim on social media associating a decrease in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome with a decrease in immunization rates of infants during COVID-19?
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Linking a decrease in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to a decrease in the immunization rate of infants in the U.S. would be factually misleading. Rates of SIDS and immunization have to be understood to be independent of one another until proven otherwise. So far, no studies have linked the two rates. There is also no published data on SIDS during the pandemic so far. One white paper makes claims that SIDS has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic based on “anecdotal evidence”, i.e. hearsay, which is not considered to be scientific evidence. As a result, scientists do not know what effect COVID-19 has had on SIDS, if any at all. As for immunization, on May 18th 2020, the US CDC reported that vaccination rates declined across children age groups, except for newborns receiving the hepatitis B vaccine at the hospital around the time of birth.
Linking a decrease in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to a decrease in the immunization rate of infants in the U.S. would be factually misleading. Rates of SIDS and immunization have to be understood to be independent of one another until proven otherwise. So far, no studies have linked the two rates. There is also no published data on SIDS during the pandemic so far. One white paper makes claims that SIDS has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic based on “anecdotal evidence”, i.e. hearsay, which is not considered to be scientific evidence. As a result, scientists do not know what effect COVID-19 has had on SIDS, if any at all. As for immunization, on May 18th 2020, the US CDC reported that vaccination rates declined across children age groups, except for newborns receiving the hepatitis B vaccine at the hospital around the time of birth.
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What our experts say
Linking a decrease in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to a decrease in the immunization rate of infants in the U.S. would be factually misleading. Rates of SIDS and immunization have to be understood to be independent of one another until proven otherwise. So far, no studies have linked the two rates. There is also no published data on SIDS during the pandemic so far. One white paper makes claims that SIDS has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic based on “anecdotal evidence”, i.e. hearsay, which is not considered to be scientific evidence. As a result, scientists do not know what effect COVID-19 has had on SIDS, if any at all. As for immunization, on May 18th 2020, the US CDC reported that vaccination rates declined across children age groups, except for newborns receiving the hepatitis B vaccine at the hospital around the time of birth.
Linking a decrease in Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to a decrease in the immunization rate of infants in the U.S. would be factually misleading. Rates of SIDS and immunization have to be understood to be independent of one another until proven otherwise. So far, no studies have linked the two rates. There is also no published data on SIDS during the pandemic so far. One white paper makes claims that SIDS has decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic based on “anecdotal evidence”, i.e. hearsay, which is not considered to be scientific evidence. As a result, scientists do not know what effect COVID-19 has had on SIDS, if any at all. As for immunization, on May 18th 2020, the US CDC reported that vaccination rates declined across children age groups, except for newborns receiving the hepatitis B vaccine at the hospital around the time of birth.
Context and background
This comes from an incorrect claim that is trying to make the case that infant vaccines cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and that a reduction of vaccination coverage in infants during the pandemic due to lockdown is the reason for lower cases of SIDS. The origin of this misinformation is not a new myth. In fact, the WHO listed the myth that the Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine causes SIDS as one of six common misconceptions about immunization. In the Health Choice report, where this erroneous claim comes from, authors take two pieces of standalone information (that infant vaccine rates have decreased during the pandemic, and that rates of SIDS have decreased during COVID-19 pandemic, respectively) and claim causality between the two phenomena without a) referencing any study that would be needed to prove causality, and b) without sufficient evidence that SIDS rates have, in fact, decreased. It is possible that these two pieces of data happen to be true at the same time but are entirely disconnected. The attempt to connect these two pieces of information without any evidence base for doing so is known as ecological fallacy, and is a common tactic used among anti-vaccine communities online.
This comes from an incorrect claim that is trying to make the case that infant vaccines cause Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and that a reduction of vaccination coverage in infants during the pandemic due to lockdown is the reason for lower cases of SIDS. The origin of this misinformation is not a new myth. In fact, the WHO listed the myth that the Diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) vaccine causes SIDS as one of six common misconceptions about immunization. In the Health Choice report, where this erroneous claim comes from, authors take two pieces of standalone information (that infant vaccine rates have decreased during the pandemic, and that rates of SIDS have decreased during COVID-19 pandemic, respectively) and claim causality between the two phenomena without a) referencing any study that would be needed to prove causality, and b) without sufficient evidence that SIDS rates have, in fact, decreased. It is possible that these two pieces of data happen to be true at the same time but are entirely disconnected. The attempt to connect these two pieces of information without any evidence base for doing so is known as ecological fallacy, and is a common tactic used among anti-vaccine communities online.
