Among industrialised countries, the highest mortality in children <5 years old is in the USA (8.0 per 1000 live births), and the second highest is in the UK (6.5 per 1000 live births). In the UK, infection is the major cause of childhood death from acute physical illness. A study based on death certificate data (Pediatr Infect Dis J 2010;29:310–3) has provided information about infection-related deaths among children aged 28 days to 14 years in England and Wales in 2003–2005. During the study period, there were 6897 …