(Effects of 15% oxygen on breathing patterns and oxygenation in infants)

In a linked editorial in this week's BMJ, Milner states that before widespread concern about the possible risk flying and altitude may pose to infants, it is important to put these considerations into context. He draws upon a personal communication with British Airways who report that in 34 million passengers a year they have no reported cases of sudden infant deaths occurring during flight. Assuming that infants account for one in 500 passengers, 750,000 infants have travelled safely over the last ten years, estimates Milner. He concludes by saying that so long as a child is healthy there is no epidemiological evidence to indicate that it is unsafe for it to fly during its first year.

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Professor Anthony Milner, Professor of Neonatology, United Medical and Dental School, St Thomas's Hospital, London