Ventilatory pattern following diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis immunization in infants at risk for sudden infant death syndrome.

To evaluate the effects of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP) immunization on the ventilatory pattern during sleep in infants at increased risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), we performed overnight pneumograms (recordings of ventilatory pattern and electrocardiogram) on 30 control infants, 46 infants with unexplained apnea, and 33 subsequent siblings of SIDS victims the night before and the night following a DTP immunization. Pneumograms were quantitated for total sleep time, longest apnea (in seconds), total duration of apneas longer than 6 s (in minutes), and total periodic breathing (in minutes). Following the DTP immunization there was no significant change in any criterion quantitated on pneumograms from any group except for a decrease in periodic breathing in the unexplained apnea group. We conclude that DTP immunization does not increase abnormalities of the ventilatory pattern as recorded by the pneumogram technique in infants at increased risk for SIDS.