SOME 22 infants were treated for shaken baby syndrome at Dublin’s Temple Street children’s hospital over a 10-year period.
The children were mostly just a few months old when treated for head injuries, including haemorrhages, but only one criminal prosecution has been mounted.
Prof Alf Nicholson, a paediatrician at the hospital involved in the retrospective study, said the role of the paediatric and social work team in the hospital was not to effect prosecutions.
“That is the role of gardaí and the State prosecution system,” he said. The prime concern of medics and social workers was the protection of the babies, he added.
The 22 cases presented between October 1998 and January 2009 and the problem may be increasing, Prof Nicholson indicated, with more cases presenting in the past year.
However, he said this could be because there was greater recognition of the condition among doctors and more cases may be referred to the hospital because Temple Street is now the national neurosurgical centre for children under six.
While 10 of the children came from families where parents were unemployed, six had professional parents. A further two were from lower socio-economic groups, while four were unclassified.
Some 18 of the children were Irish and four came from non-Irish backgrounds. Six of the mothers had partners who were not the biological fathers of the babies. Eight of the babies were the first-born and boys outnumbered girls by three to one, according to the research published in the Irish Medical Journal.
“Most often, no explanation was forthcoming to explain the injuries. In three, a low fall was put forth as an explanation and in just three patients did the parents subsequently admit to shaking the infant,” it stated.
One infant was being cared for by a childminder at the time.
The children’s stays in hospital ranged from one to 124 days.
One of the 22 died, 18 were normal on follow-up, two had ADHD, two had language delay and two had motor delay.
Social workers became involved in all cases and following case conferences, six of the 22 children were returned to their parents, seven were returned to relatives of the parents, six went to foster parents and one left the country.
Prof Nicholson said another audit looking at current presentations over a two-year period across the State should present a fuller picture.
The syndrome, now more commonly referred to as abusive head trauma (AHT), results from injuries caused by vigorously shaking a child.
“This would not be playful shaking with the baby,” Prof Nicholson said.
“AHT is devastating to the infant and ongoing care of these infants places a substantial burden on the medical system, caregivers and society in general,” the study added.