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Fighting Infectious Disease: Evidence from Sweden 1870-1940

Lazuka, Volha LU ; Quaranta, Luciana LU and Bengtsson, Tommy LU (2015) In IZA DP
Abstract
Fighting infectious disease in the past, much like today, focused on isolating the disease and thereby stopping its spread. New insights into the modes of transmission and the causal agents in the mid-nineteenth century, together with fear of new epidemic outbreaks, motivated public investments aimed at reducing mortality from infectious disease. Combining longitudinal individual-level data on 17,000 children in a rural/semi-urban region in southern Sweden with parish-level data on public health investment from local ledger registers, we explore the effects of public health initiatives, such as the establishment of isolation hospitals and improved midwifery, on infant and child mortality. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find... (More)
Fighting infectious disease in the past, much like today, focused on isolating the disease and thereby stopping its spread. New insights into the modes of transmission and the causal agents in the mid-nineteenth century, together with fear of new epidemic outbreaks, motivated public investments aimed at reducing mortality from infectious disease. Combining longitudinal individual-level data on 17,000 children in a rural/semi-urban region in southern Sweden with parish-level data on public health investment from local ledger registers, we explore the effects of public health initiatives, such as the establishment of isolation hospitals and improved midwifery, on infant and child mortality. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the establishment of isolation hospitals in the mid-1890s had been efficient in reducing child mortality, while the reformation of the midwife system after 1900s led to the decline in infant mortality, both by a magnitude of more than 50 per cent. (Less)
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author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Sweden, children, mortality, infectious diseases, public health investment
in
IZA DP
issue
9313
publisher
IZA Working paper series
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
2be88bbb-9417-4e39-bdaf-6600909f7193 (old id 7868352)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:31:47
date last changed
2023-06-02 12:32:22
@misc{2be88bbb-9417-4e39-bdaf-6600909f7193,
  abstract     = {{Fighting infectious disease in the past, much like today, focused on isolating the disease and thereby stopping its spread. New insights into the modes of transmission and the causal agents in the mid-nineteenth century, together with fear of new epidemic outbreaks, motivated public investments aimed at reducing mortality from infectious disease. Combining longitudinal individual-level data on 17,000 children in a rural/semi-urban region in southern Sweden with parish-level data on public health investment from local ledger registers, we explore the effects of public health initiatives, such as the establishment of isolation hospitals and improved midwifery, on infant and child mortality. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we find that the establishment of isolation hospitals in the mid-1890s had been efficient in reducing child mortality, while the reformation of the midwife system after 1900s led to the decline in infant mortality, both by a magnitude of more than 50 per cent.}},
  author       = {{Lazuka, Volha and Quaranta, Luciana and Bengtsson, Tommy}},
  keywords     = {{Sweden; children; mortality; infectious diseases; public health investment}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{9313}},
  publisher    = {{IZA Working paper series}},
  series       = {{IZA DP}},
  title        = {{Fighting Infectious Disease: Evidence from Sweden 1870-1940}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}