The Teamwork to Reduce Infant, Child, and Adolescent Mortality (TRICAM) program at Lurie Children’s was launched in 2018 to address pediatric mortality from the leading causes of death. TRICAM aims to crosscut the healthcare delivery, research, education, advocacy, and quality missions of Lurie Children’s. The program is housed in the Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research and Evaluation Center under the leadership of Dr. Matt Davis. Kim Kaczor serves as the Director of Operations for TRICAM.
TRICAM is currently supported in part by the generosity of the Children’s Research Fund.
The United States (US) has higher infant, child, and adolescent mortality rates than other comparable high income nations. Overall, US mortality rates have declined over the decades, but in recent years, the pediatric rates have plateaued or increased. In contrast, over the same time period, peer nations have made more rapid and sustained progress in reducing mortality rates.
In the US and Illinois, the leading causes of death for infants, children, and adolescents include roughly two dozen different categories of illness and injury. The faculty and staff of Lurie Children’s and Northwestern University have broad expertise regarding these causes of death, with more than 250 professionals providing clinical care or conducting research, education, or advocacy in these areas.
The US mortality rates for children 0-24 years of age are shown in the series of graphs below. Each graph reflects a different age group, and each color represents a different leading causes of death.
Click on any of the below images to view a larger version of each graph.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death 1999-2019 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2020. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2019, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html
