2021 to 2022 Saw 3 Percent Increase in Infant Deaths Reported in U.S.

THURSDAY, July 25, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- There was a 3 percent increase in infant deaths reported in the United States from 2021 to 2022, according to the July 24 National Vital Statistics Reports, a publication from the National Center for Health Statistics.

Danielle M. Ely, Ph.D., and Anne K. Driscoll, Ph.D., from the National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, present final 2022 infant mortality statistics using data for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The authors also examined trends in infant mortality.

The researchers found that there were 20,577 infant deaths reported in the United States in 2022, which represented a 3 percent increase from 2021. From 2021 to 2022, the U.S. infant mortality rate increased 3 percent, from 5.44 to 5.61 infant deaths per 1,000 live births. During the same time period, the neonatal mortality rate increased 3 percent, from 3.49 to 3.59, and the postneonatal mortality rate increased 4 percent, from 1.95 to 2.02. Compared with 2021, in 2022, the overall infant mortality rate increased for infants of American Indian and Alaska Native non-Hispanic, White non-Hispanic, and Dominican women; changes in rates for other race and Hispanic origin groups were not significant.

From 2021 to 2022, mortality rates increased among preterm infants (33.59 to 34.78) and for infants born term (2.08 to 2.18). In 2022, the five leading causes of infant death were the same as in 2021.

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