Original scientific paper
Causes of Death in the Parish of Komin-Rogotin, 1826-1874
Maja Šunjić
; Odjel za arheološku baštinu Ministarstva kulture Republike Hrvatske, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Abstract
The article examines the causes of death recorded in the parish register of Komin-Rogotin (settlements in the Neretva delta, today within the municipality of Ploče) from 1826 to 1874. Of 548 causes of death entered in the register, 417 (76.27 %) are related to Komin, and 130 (23.72 %) to Rogotin. On the basis of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10), causes of death have been grouped according to several disease categories and health disorders, half of which belong to a group of unclassified causes of death. A considerable number of the reported ‘diagnoses’ is attributable to infectious diseases (29.56 %) and respiratory disorders (8.58 %). The analysis of time-series data on causes of death is grounded on relevant literature, primary sources, medical guides and oral accounts. The higher death rate of most years could be explained by general conditions prevailing in Dalmatia at the time—famine due to poor harvest or the ravages of epidemics. Outbreaks of cholera (1837-1855), diphtheria (1862-1863) and measles (1858), as well as frequent incidents of helminths in the 1830s were comparable in Dalmatia and Croatia. Despite unhealthy marshy environment, the number of deaths ascribed to malaria is smaller than expected. The causes of perinatal and infant deaths are age specific, and each case can be related to maternal death. Considering that no birth registers have survived for the period between 1857 and 1884, the maternal mortality decline after 1850 could be attributed to misreporting, maternal death being undetected as such. Among accidental deaths, drowning of children and younger parishioners during seasonal work in the fields was common.
Keywords
Komin; Rogotin; causes of death
Hrčak ID:
28427
URI
Publication date:
28.8.2008.
Visits: 3.247 *