The State - News from July 4, 1988

Cases of the mysterious “sudden unexpected death syndrome” among Southeast Asian refugees have declined in most areas of the United States, but not in the San Joaquin Valley. Nationwide, 117 seemingly healthy men and one woman have died without warning since the first case was reported in 1981. The cases peaked nationwide in 1982--except in the San Joaquin Valley, where many Southeast Asians have moved to be with relatives. “In the San Joaquin, Merced and Fresno area, we’ve had more recent cases,” said Dr. Gib Parrish, a medical epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. Fresno County has recorded four deaths, which medical experts cannot explain except to label “sudden unexpected death syndrome.” San Joaquin County has had three such deaths and Merced County two. San Joaquin and Merced counties each have had one such death this year and Fresno one in 1987, all among Hmong men.