美发现早产是导致婴儿死亡的主要原因

一项最新研究发现，早产是美国婴儿死亡最主要的原因，至少占2002年所有婴儿死亡的三分之一。

美国疾病预防和控制中心(CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA)的研究人员鉴别出导致婴儿死亡的前20位原因--小于1岁--在2002年使用了美国-相关出生/婴儿死亡数据库。他们评估了早产死亡因的比例，考虑早产和特定死亡原因之间的生物学联系。在有记录的27,970例2002年相关死亡文件中，前20种原因导致了22,273例死亡，或者说导致了80%的婴儿死亡。在前20类死亡中，早产婴儿总计9,596 (34.3%)，其中95%在妊娠32周前出生，体重小于1,500克。三分之二的死亡发生在出生后24小时。

Premature Birth Is Cause of Many Infant Deaths
 
A new study finds that preterm birth is the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, accounting for at least a third of all babies' deaths in 2002.

Researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, GA, USA) identified the top 20 leading causes of death in infants--less than one year of age--in 2002 using the U.S.-linked birth/infant death data set. They assessed the contribution of preterm birth to each cause by determining the proportion of infants who were born preterm for each cause of death, and by considering the biologic connection between preterm birth and the specific cause of death. Of the 27,970 recorded deaths in the linked file for 2002, the 20 leading causes accounted for 22,273 deaths, or 80% of all infant deaths. Deaths of preterm infants in the top 20 categories totaled 9,596 (34.3%), 95% of whom were born before 32 weeks gestational age and weighed less than 1,500 g. Two-thirds of the deaths in preterm infants occurred in the first 24 hours of life.