From mortality statistics for 1907 and 1908,
nearly one-fifth of all the deaths that occurred in the United States were
those of infants under 1 year of age, and over one-fourth are of children less
than 5 years of age.
“The general death
rate of a country is largely dependent upon its infant mortality, because the
death rates of infants and young children are high and they affect a relatively
numerous element of the population.” (page 8, Mortality Statistics 1908,
Dept. of Commerce and Labor)Friday, January 22, 2016
Causes of Death in the United States in 1908
Causes of Death in the United States in 1908
What were the most
common causes of all these deaths among babies? Premature birth, congenital
debility, venereal diseases, diarrhea and enteritis, measles, acute bronchitis,
bronchopneumonia, whooping cough, croup/diphtheria, meningitis, laryngitis and
other diseases of larynx, scarlet fever, and convulsions.
Among adults in large
cities (defined as those with a population of 100,000 or greater), the most
important causes of death were typhoid fever, measles, scarlet fever, whooping
cough, diphtheria and croup, tuberculosis, cancer, heart disease, pneumonia,
diarrhea and enteritis, Bright’s disease [kidney disease], suicide, and other
violence. Smallpox, plague, yellow fever, leprosy, rabies, and pellagra [a
vitamin deficiency, although the cause was not yet known] caused relatively few
deaths.
From the Department of Commerce and Labor,
Bureau of the Census’ Mortality Statistics: 1908, Bulletin 104,
published in 1909
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