The Japan SIDS Myth
This particular myth was started by Vera Scheibner, basically saying that when Japan raised the vaccination age to 2 years old, their SIDS rates plummeted. Of course it's totally not true.
Scheibner systematically misrepresents the Japanese situation. SIDS continued to occur in Japan but since the diagnosis is restricted to children under 12 months and the minimum age for vaccination increased to two years, it merely disappeared as an entity from the vaccine compensation system. (
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/eletters/322/7290/822)
Japan SIDS rates are currently at their lowest ever
http://www.sids.gr.jp/en/recent_projects.html
See page 73 for Dtap study results (no difference in SIDS rates in DTAP'd and un vaxed babies)
http://www.sids.gr.jp/invi/The%209th%20SIDS_0522.pdf
Scheibner rests her statement about the "disappearance of cot death" on data showing that no claims were lodged under the compensation scheme when the vaccination age was increased from 3 months to 2 years of age. However, she fails to point out that a SIDS diagnosis is restricted to infants under 12 monmths. SIDS had merely disappeared as an entity from the vaccination compensation system which was now compensating only for events occurring after 2 years, the new minimum age for vaccination.(
http://www.utoronto.ca/virology/mby480/lectures/Scheibner.pdf)