title: Infant and child mortality in two counties of Liberia: results of a survey in 1988 and trends since 1984.
abstract: A baseline survey of childhood mortality in two counties of Liberia in 1984 found the risk of dying before age 5 to be almost one-third. Three years into the Combatting Childhood Communicable Diseases (CCCD) project, a survey using a pregnancy history questionnaire was conducted in the same clusters to determine if any change in mortality had occurred. Reinterviews were done in a subsample and pregnancies were matched from the two surveys to determine levels of missing events. After adjustment for omission, infant mortality was estimated at 180 per 1000, a 25% decline from the estimated 1984 level. Childhood mortality declined by an estimated 28%. Tabulations of death by reported cause using a verbal autopsy questionnaire showed that the risks of neonatal tetanus and fever associated deaths declined significantly. These reductions might have been a direct result of programme activities which were shown by a marked increase in tetanus toxoid immunization and access to antimalarial drugs in the study area.
authors.affiliation: Department of Population Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205.
authors.forename: S R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Diop
authors.forename: J N
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Thornton
mesh_terms: D002675:Child, Preschool; D003140:Communicable Disease Control; D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000401:mortality*; D004812:Epidemiologic Methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000639:trends*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007988:Liberia / Q000453:epidemiology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires