[Neonatal respiratory distress syndrome in Switzerland--a comparison of a survey and official statistics].

A survey in all neonatal intensive care units in Switzerland showed that most children with a birth weight below 2000 g (identified in the birth statistics) are hospitalised in those units. Also comparison with the official neonatal mortality statistics shows that most neonatal deaths occur in these units. High agreement was found between diagnosis in hospitalised children and those recorded on death certificates. 40% of neonatal mortality in Switzerland are still due to neonatal respiratory distress syndrome.