ABSTRACT
Infants die from diseases, metabolic disorders, accidents, neglect, injuries, and intentional acts of violence and neglect. This chapter focuses on violent death, fatal malnourishment, and other intentional acts that take infants' lives. The signs of violent death in an infant, particularly by suffocation or shaken baby syndrome, may be very subtle. Violent deaths are classified separately from deaths resulting from the intentional withholding of nourishment or sudden unexplained infant death (SUID) syndrome. Shaken baby syndrome describes a variety of findings that result when an infant is forcibly shaken. Some believe the shaking must be accompanied by the impact of an infant's head on some surface. Fatal child neglect requires extensive documentation of the conditions in the home. SUID occurs in infants under 1 year of age and remains unexplained after a thorough investigation. Medical records will indicate failure of the infant to thrive under medically supervised feeding.
