An analysis of deaths in Tuliszków parish caused by a cholera epidemic in 1831.

BACKGROUND

Information is presented about cholera as an infectious disease and an epidemic in Polish lands and in Europe in 1831 based on old and modern sources.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the difference in the percentages of deaths from cholera depending on age, in the Tuliszków parish during the cholera epidemic in 1831.

MATERIAL AND

METHODS

A query was carried out in the archives. Information on deaths between 1829 and 1839 was obtained from the parish registry files. The following factors were taken into account: the cause of death, the age of the deceased and the place of residence. For individual age groups, the numbers of people who died of cholera in 1831 and those who died from other causes in the control year 1835 were compared by the Fisher test. The GBL and PubMed database was searched using the keywords: cholera, cholera epidemic, deaths, Tuliszków, the year 1831, Holy Spirit Hospital, Konin.

RESULTS

An outbreak of cholera in Tuliszków parish in 1831 began around the 8th of August and lasted until about the 10th of October. 81 people died of cholera: 74 people in Tuliszków and 7 people in Sarbicko. The number of deaths in infants and children up to 5 years of age was in fact significantly lower than in other age groups (p = 0.0052). The percentage of deaths from cholera compared to deaths from other causes among infants and children under 5 years of age decreased from 52.46% to 28.4%. In the age group of 20 to 40 years old it increased from 13.11% to 23.46% and in the age group over 55 years from 9.84% to 19.75%.

CONCLUSIONS

In Tuliszków parish in 1831, the number of deaths of infants and children under 5 years of age caused by cholera was indeed significantly lower than in other age groups (p = 0.0052).