Research Links SIDS, Intestinal Bacterium
From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Sudden infant death syndrome may be linked to an infection caused by a common intestinal bacterium called Escherichia coli, preliminary research suggests.
Australian researchers told a Milan conference on infectious diseases April 25 that a shock-producing byproduct of E. coli was found in the blood of 68 SIDS babies tested, but in none of the 60 infants used for comparison.
The toxin that the Australian researchers suspect is a protein called curlin. Scientists suspect the bacteria may produce the toxin to help it compete in the germ environment in the intestines.
