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The Phenomenon of Summer Diarrhea and Its Waning, 1910-1930

Author

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  • Anderson, D. Mark

    (Montana State University)

  • Rees, Daniel I.

    (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)

  • Wang, Tianyi

    (University of Toronto)

Abstract

During the first two decades of the 20th century, diarrheal deaths among American infants and children surged every summer. Although we still do not know what pathogen (or pathogens) caused this phenomenon, the consensus view is that it was eventually controlled through public health efforts at the municipal level. Using data from 26 major American cities for the period 1910-1930, we document the phenomenon of summer diarrhea and explore its dissipation. We find that water filtration is associated with a 15-17 percent reduction in diarrheal mortality among children under the age of two during the non-summer months, but does not seem to have had an effect on diarrheal mortality during the summer. In general, we find little evidence to suggest that public health interventions undertaken at the municipal level contributed to the dissipation of summer diarrhea. Our results are relevant for many parts of the developing world today, where climate change is expected to affect the length and intensity of seasons as well as the incidence of diarrheal diseases.

Suggested Citation

  • Anderson, D. Mark & Rees, Daniel I. & Wang, Tianyi, 2019. "The Phenomenon of Summer Diarrhea and Its Waning, 1910-1930," IZA Discussion Papers 12232, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12232
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    Cited by:

    1. Gupta, Aashish, 2020. "Seasonal variation in infant mortality in India," SocArXiv x4rv7, Center for Open Science.
    2. Anderson, D. Mark & Charles, Kerwin Kofi & Rees, Daniel I. & Wang, Tianyi, 2019. "Water Purification Efforts and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap, 1906-1938," IZA Discussion Papers 12783, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. D. Mark Anderson & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Daniel I. Rees & Tianyi Wang, 2019. "Water Purification Efforts and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap, 1906-1938," Working Papers 2019-075, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    4. D. Mark Anderson & Kerwin Kofi Charles & Daniel I. Rees & Tianyi Wang, 2019. "Water Purification Efforts and the Black-White Infant Mortality Gap, 1906-1938," NBER Working Papers 26489, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    infant mortality; diarrheal mortality; public health;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I10 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - General
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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