A 2004 search of the National Library of Medicine (PubMed) reveals greater than 5500 published papers about sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In contrast a search for papers about sudden unexpected death in childhood (SUDC) identifies less than 50 relevant papers. SUDC occurs but is rare.

In 2001, the crude United States death rate for deaths of unknown or unspecified causes (ICD Codes R95- R99 from the CDC Wonder Database) was 1.5 per 100,000 live births for children between 1 and 4 years of age compared to a SIDS rate of 56 per 100,000 live births (CDC Wonder Online Database, visited 2004).

From 1979 to 2001 there were 7,916 deaths nationally with unknown and unspecified causes for children between ages 1 and 14 years (ICD Codes 798.1, 798.2, 798.9, 799.9, and R95-R99 from CDC Wonder Database). Therefore, the San Diego SUDC Research Project is pleased to be the first in the United States to receive funding specifically for the purpose of studying this tragic phenomenon.