Licence: In copyright
Credit: Infant mortality / by Hugh T. Ashby. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.
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![Ill] AT HIGHER AGES 2/ For example, if a certain town or district has suffered from a serious epidemic of summer diarrhoea, although a large number of infants may survive, even if attacked, never- theless many of these will survive only in a weakly state. The following figures clearly show how those places which have a high Infant Mortality rate also have a high death rate in the next few years of life. The converse is also true, and in * those localities where the Infant Mortahty is low fewer children are left crippled, and in consequence fewer die later. The following table gives the comparative mortahty figures between the ages o-i and 1-5 years. The towns with a high Infant Mortahty are in the upper half and those with a low Infant Mortality in the lower half: Town Age o-i years Age 1-5 years Stalybridge 157 166 Burnley .. 142 132 Ashton-under-Lyne 136 135 Stoke-on-Trent .. 134 132 Wigan 128 143 Preston 126 116 Stockport 124 121 Hornsey .. 55 50 Guildford 58 35 Reigate .. 59 45 Hastings .. 67 64 Bournemouth 70 55 From this table it will be seen that with the exception of Wigan and Stalybridge, the mortality among children between one and five years is on the whole less than the mortality during the first year. This is to be explained by the fact that infants are more susceptible to disease than they are after infancy is past. As they get older they are better able to withstand disease, and this is still more evident in youth and adult age. Then again, as old age comes on the resisting power of the body becomes weaker and the death rate increases again. Infants succumb in large numbers to alimentary diseases, due to errors in diet, and this is not to be wondered at when we realise how great are the chances infants have of contracting these diseases. Later in hfe the human being is far less easily](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21361083_0045.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
