Causes of death in children of the Kvarner Bay area ( western Croatia ) in the 19 th century

medicina fluminensis 2015, Vol. 51, No. 2, p. 276-282 276 Abstract. Aim: To analyze the rates and causes of death in children in four towns in the Kvarner Bay area (western Croatia) in the 19th century. Materials and sources: The analysis is based on data collected from the Death Register kept at the State Archives of Rijeka. Death records were translated into English and arranged according to the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10). We analyzed a sample with a total of 5,462 death records, which included six age groups: newborns, infants, toddlers, preschoolers, schoolers, and adolescents. Results: In nearly all the age groups the leading causes of death were “Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical findings, not elsewhere classified”, while the second leading cause of death was “Certain infectious and parasitic diseases”. Compared to the surrounding towns, Rijeka showed the most favorable trends in the death rate, which seems to reflect improvements in health care. Conclusion: Our results represent an original contribution to the historical study of child mortality, with the application of the ICD-10, enabling a more precise insight and comparison between historical and modern epidemiological data.