[Bacterial toxins as cause of sudden infant death (author's transl)].

At post-mortems held on cot-death infants, the cause of death can be established as a variety of pathological changes. Inflammationin the region of the respiratory tract, in particular in the lungs;infections of the gastrointestinal tract; otitis media; shift of electrolytes-recently also the so-called yellow fat ect., can in association with the data on the anamnesis in many cases, through the assumption of bacterio-enterotoxin poisoning, which takes a different course in infants, to that in older children or adults, be traced back to a common origin. Extensive inquiries before the post-mortem, are as much indispensable prerequisites forthe clarification of the cause of sudden death as are the actual post-mortem and the ensuing investigations which must be carried out in the same way.