The Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure
Water, sanitation and health in the first industrial society: Britain 1780 – 1930
Why did diarrhoeal mortality decline with such a different pattern from other faecal-oral diseases, 1895 - 1930?
"St. Charles Evaporated Cream: recommended by physicians everywhere as the safest baby food". St. Charles Condensing Co. Public domain. Source: Wellcome Collection.
In contrast to other faecal-oral diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery that killed adults as well as children, infant diarrhoeal mortality did not improve substantially until the second decade of the twentieth century. Diarrhoeal mortality was highest in towns with dry faecal disposal systems but the rapid displacement of dry methods with flush toilets after 1900 did not produce clear improvements.
The causes of the rapid falls in diarrhoeal mortality after c.1911 have been relatively neglected because of the strong historiographical divide imposed by the dramatic reorganisation of official sources in 1911. We will surmount this barrier through the use of Medical Officer of Health (MOH) reports, which survive in (sometimes broken) series for a large number of urban districts for the period c.1895–1930.
Outputs
Davenport, R.J. 2023. 'Urban shitscapes and the late decline of infant diarrhoeal mortality in England and Wales: evidence from Medical Officer of Health reports, 1895-1911'. Working paper
Banner image credits: Flies infecting food, Colour lithograph after A. Games, 1941, Wellcome Collection, CC BY 4.0; A woman breastfeeding her baby, with a dog sitting next to them in a rural setting. Etching by C. Lewis, 1848, after Sir E. Landseer, 1837. Wellcome Collection, Public Domain Mark.