Fig. 125. Mortality from gastro-enteritis in Paris during the year 1899. In red, mortality among bottle-fed infants; in black, mortality among breast-fed infants.
Synopsis of a Paper by Dr. Pierre Planchon, which appeared in the "Obstetrique" of January 1900
After a few introductory remarks Dr. Planchon proceeds: "Now let us consider what happened, during summer 1899, at the Consultation for Nurslings of the Clinique Tarnier:--
"The consultation then comprised 65 infants, of whom
"40 were being exclusively breast-fed;
"3 had been breast-fed until their mothers could no longer supply their wants, and were on mixed feeding;
"22 were on artificial feeding, of whom 9 had been weaned in due course after passing through the stages of breast and mixed feeding, 10 had been on mixed feeding from both, and 3 had been reared solely on animal milk.
"Consequently 40 infants were breast-fed, 22 received all the milk their mothers could secrete, and 3 had never had any but sterilised cows' milk. Therefore--
"61.5 per cent. were nourished exclusively by their mothers.
"33.7 per cent. utilised all the milk their mothers could produce.
"4.6 per cent. were upon artificial feeding from birth.
"I have carefully collected the details of all gastro-intestinal troubles which occurred in these nurslings during the summer of 1899."
Dr. Planchon enters into a minute study of each case, and then continues as follows: There were 14 cases of diarrhoea among these 65 infants; 10 were slight and 4 were serious; there were no deaths. The morbidity was thus 21 per cent., and the mortality zero. In all but one case we traced the cause of the gastro-intestinal symptoms; in 5 they arose from "teething"; in 1 from menstruation in the nurse; and in 7 from faulty feeding, due to mothers disobeying our instructions.
What were the results obtained during the same period at the three crèches in Paris, where sterilised milk is used under proper supervision? As is seen on the following table they had a morbidity of 7.4 per cent. among 121 infants, and a mortality of zero.
Crèche
Doctor
Total of Infants
Simple Enteritis
Cholera Infantum
Deaths
Fénelon, Charles
Dr. Bouquet
42
5
0
0
Rue Gauthey
Dr. Gauchas
22
2
1
0
Sainte Philomène
Dr. Belluze
57
1
0
0
Total
121
8
1
0
In the town of Paris during these four months 2840 infants under one year died; 1470 of them succumbed to diarrhoea. The deaths from gastro-enteritis were thus 51.7 per cent. of the total infantile mortality; 139 of them -- 4.9 per cent. -- occurred among breast-fed babies, and 1331 - 46.8 per cent. -- among bottle-fed.
|
Month |
Number of Week |
Total Deaths from 0-1 Year |
Deaths from Gastroenteritis |
Mean Temperature |
Percentage of the Total Infantile Death-Rate
due to Diarrhoea | ||
|
Breast |
Bottle |
Total | |||||
|
June |
22 |
128 |
9 |
21 |
30 |
15.10 |
23.4 |
|
|
23 |
149 |
5 |
43 |
48 |
18.22 |
32.2 |
|
|
24 |
114 |
7 |
31 |
38 |
15.29 |
33.3 |
|
|
25 |
103 |
5 |
28 |
33 |
16.79 |
32.0 |
|
|
26 |
111 |
7 |
36 |
43 |
18.17 |
38.8 |
|
July |
27 |
114 |
3 |
51 |
54 |
16.65 |
47.4 |
|
|
28 |
169 |
13 |
66 |
79 |
20.30 |
46.5 |
|
|
29 |
237 |
10 |
149 |
159 |
22.38 |
67.5 |
|
|
30 |
206 |
7 |
117 |
124 |
19.08 |
60.2 |
|
Aug. |
31 |
256 |
16 |
158 |
174 |
23.57 |
68.0 |
|
|
32 |
231 |
7 |
84 |
91 |
19.55 |
39.5 |
|
|
33 |
215 |
12 |
131 |
143 |
20.98 |
60.5 |
|
|
34 |
210 |
9 |
128 |
137 |
19.86 |
65.2 |
|
|
35 |
175 |
6 |
88 |
94 |
19.23 |
53.8 |
|
Sept. |
36 |
135 |
10 |
67 |
77 |
19.80 |
57.0 |
|
|
37 |
104 |
3 |
55 |
58 |
14.50 |
53.6 |
|
|
38 |
105 |
6 |
46 |
52 |
14.46 |
49.4 |
|
|
39 |
78 |
4 |
32 |
36 |
12.98 |
46.2 |
|
Total |
2840 |
139 |
1331 |
1470 |
|
| |
|
|
Fig. 125. Mortality from gastro-enteritis in Paris during the year 1899. In red, mortality among bottle-fed infants; in black, mortality among breast-fed infants. |