Coqueluche e mortalidade infantil em Paranaguá (1855-1858)

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the pertussis outbreak that struck Paranaguá, a Brazilian port city located on the coast of the Paraná Province and the impact that this outbreak had on the local infant mortality in the period. This outbreak affected children between zero and eight years of age with one single exception. The analysis was based on data from the death records of the parish of Nossa Senhora do Rosário de Paranaguá. As a method of comparison, infant mortality during the outbreak was analyzed, separating deaths from pertussis and deaths from other causes and also comparing mortality during the outbreak with mortality from periods before and after it. This study allows us to better understand the causes of infant mortality in the city of Paranaguá in the middle of the 19th century.