However,
we found a decrease in deaths attributed to
or complicated by infection, whereas increases
in infection-related deaths were reported in the
U.K. Perinatal Mortality Survey. The increase in
mortality attributed to necrotizing enterocolitis
may be related to improvements in the early
survival of infants who would have otherwise
died before they reached the typical postnatal
age at which necrotizing enterocolitis occurs.
Data from the U.K. Perinatal Mortality Survey
and a Swedish cohort15 are consistent with these
observations.