sources!
Infant mortality rates (IMR) are a multi-faceted issue and the simplistic "too many vaccinations" erroneous correlation doesn't hold water when Bayesian plausibility and Occam's razor is applied to that hypothesis and real large scale data is examined.
Causes definitely correlated to IMR, supported by large scale population analysis:
- living in poverty
- no access to high quality health care facilities
- lack of prenatal care
- Teen mothers
- Diabetic mothers
- Hypertensive mothers
- Preeclamsia
- Smoking mothers
- Drug & alcohol abuse by mothers
- Nutritional status of mothers
- Prematurity
- Low birth weight at full term
- Perinatal complications (Breech presentation, cord issues, Group B Strep infection)
- birth defects
- unintentional injuries
- intentional injuries
- Infectious disease (many vaccine preventable, BTW)
- SIDS suffocations
- Minority status (and in particular, Blacks, regardless of economic status)
References supporting a positive correlation, regardless of immunization status, between poverty and lack of availability of quality health care with infant mortality in Missisippi:
Healthcare quality map - Note Mississippi.
http://archive.ahrq.gov/qual/nhqr03/sumfig1.gif
USA poverty map - Note Mississippi.
http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2007/oct/images/07_0091_05.gif
Infant mortality rate map - Note Mississippi.
http://www.juancole.com/images/2012/07/infantmort.jpg
Premature birth rates map - Note Mississippi.-
http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2012/11/health/map-preterm-births/index.html
Infant mortality, in relation to minorities & poverty, has been studied for decades:
1960-63 Infant Mortality vs. Poverty level TABLE
https://books.google.com/books?id=HmAtKsSvI7gC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32&dq=infant+mortality+rate+USA+poverty&source=bl&ots=Et9FYnp8rh&sig=udiFyGx11BTwJMSaJyNhLAnQiVY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JwCLVYGnJcrEogS6xAE&ved=0CEcQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=infant%20mortality%20rate%20USA%20poverty&f=false
1979 "Poverty and Infant Mortality in the United States"
http://www.jstor.org/stable/2094510?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
1988 "Poverty and Infant Mortality -- United States, 1988"
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00039818.htm
Minorities and IMR - Are all minorities over vaccinated?:
"Understanding Racial and Ethnic Disparities in U.S. Infant Mortality Rates"
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db74.htm
The HRSA has programs to reduce/prevent IMR - Note there's NO MENTION OF REDUCING VACCINATIONS:
http://mchb.hrsa.gov/infantmortality/coiin/index.html
> Reduce elective delivery at less than 39 weeks of pregnancy <reduce prematurity>
> Expand access to interconception care (between pregnancies) through Medicaid <better health care>
> Promote smoking cessation among pregnant women
> Promote infant safe sleep practices <SIDS prevention>
> Improve perinatal regionalization <geographically-targeted approach to assure risk-appropriate care for mothers and infants>
The HHS has programs to reduce/prevent IMR - Note there's NO MENTION OF REDUCING VACCINATIONS:
http://www.hhs.gov/news/factsheet/infant.html
- Healthy Start Program
- Increase access to Medicaid & SCHIP
- Toll-Free prenatal care hot-lines
- Childhood immunization initiatives
- Prenatal Folic Acid initiative
- "Back to Sleep" SIDS prevention program
- Reduce mother-to-child HIV transmission
- Grants to Maternal and Child Health Services (MCH)
- Reduce teen pregnancies
- Support a wide range of medical research related to birth defects, premature birth, SIDs and other life threatening conditions
While much prefer citing scholarly publications over populist media, these articles present a lot of food for thought about the correlation between poverty, minorities, availability of quality health care and infant mortality:
"Infant deaths: Searching for answers in Mississippi"
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/13/health/infant-mortality-mississippi/
"Washington’s Poorest Infants Are Ten Times More Likely to Die Than Richest"
http://www.newsweek.com/washington-global-infant-maternal-mortality-328148
"US Leads in Infant Mortality Due to Poverty"
http://economichardship.org/us-leads-infant-mortality-due-poverty/
"POVERTY AND INFANT MORTALITY"
http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/21/style/poverty-and-infant-mortality.html