Infections are still responsible for one in five childhood deaths in England and Wales, with respiratory infections topping the league table of known causes, reveals an analysis of the most up to date figures.

This is despite sharp declines in overall childhood death rates over the past decade, helped in part by the introduction of new vaccination programmes, suggest the researchers.

The UK has one of the highest childhood death rates in Europe, and the researchers wanted to find out if anything had changed since they last analysed data on childhood deaths for 2003-5.

They drew on electronic death registrations for England and Wales, covering children from the ages of 28 days up to 15 years, for the period 2013 to 2015 inclusive.

In all, 5088 children died during 2013-15, equivalent to an annual rate of 17.6/100,000 children. This compares with 6897 deaths in 2003-5, equivalent to just under 24/100,000 in 2003-5, representing a drop of 26% in 10 years.

The proportion of deaths caused by infections fell by 31%, overall, from 1368 of the total in 2003-5 to 951 in 2013-15, equivalent to a rate of 3.3/100,000 children. In over half these deaths (55%; 523/951) the children had an underlying condition.

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