ROSELAND, N.J. /CitizenWire/ — The Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) Foundation thanks Arkansas, Alabama, Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin for making statewide proclamations declaring March 2022 SUDC Awareness Month.
These are the first U.S. states to join a nationwide effort led by the SUDC Foundation to raise awareness of one of the most under-recognized medical tragedies of our time, marking the beginning of a month-long worldwide campaign.
Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood (SUDC) is a category of death in children over the age of 1 year which remains unexplained after a thorough investigation, including an autopsy. Most often, a seemingly healthy child goes to sleep and never wakes up.
“Even though SUDC affects approximately 400 children in the United States annually, many physicians and medical professionals are unaware of it,” says Dr. Erin Bowen, Vice President of the SUDC Foundation and pediatrician, “Increased awareness can lead to further research initiatives to help uncover causes and risk factors for these deaths, with the ultimate goal of preventing them, leading to a future free of SUDC.”
Recent research at NYU Langone health discovered the first genetic underpinnings of SUDC.
Awareness is key to identifying cases of SUDC for research. Recent research funded by the SUDC Foundation and published in the “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences” analyzed the DNA codes of 124 children who were lost to SUDC as well as their biological parents. The researchers at NYU Grossman School of Medicine found that nearly 9 percent-or 11 of the 124 children-had DNA code changes in genes that regulate calcium function and attributed these changes to contributing to their deaths. Additional research by the group, also funded by the SUDC Foundation, found disagreements in 40% of cause of death opinions among 100 cases sudden unexpected pediatric deaths reviewed suggesting the SUDC rate by the U.S. Centers for Death Control and Prevention (CDC) may be an underestimation.
“Each March, we try to make incredible strides to raise awareness throughout SUDC Awareness month,” said Laura Gould, President and Co-founder of the SUDC Foundation. “We see every day how critical awareness is to identify families affected as well as advocating for crucial research.”
The SUDC Foundation is advocating for SUDC Awareness Month proclamations in all 50 U.S. states this March. In 2021, 43 U.S. states participated. This nationwide effort began in 2016, inspired by Drew Joseph Boswell and the Boswell family. The Boswell family successfully advocated for the first statewide proclamation declaring March 2015 as SUDC Awareness Month in the State of Louisiana.
To see a full list of previous efforts as well as additional states who have joined, please visit: https://sudc.org/legislation-and-policy/sudc-awareness-proclamations/
The SUDC Foundation will once again mark SUDC Awareness Month by hosting weekly activities to raise awareness of SUDC and remember the children gone far too soon. To learn more, please visit: https://sudc.org/sudc-awareness-month/
RELATED LINKS
https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2115140118
Learn More: https://sudc.org/
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