title: [Deaths in children during the early twentieth and twenty-first century in Boyacá, Colombia].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Comparing and analysing crude death (CDR), child mortality (CMR) 5-year per thousand live births (LBR) and infant mortality rates (IMR) in the Boyacá department, Colombia, during the early 20th and 21st centuries.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive epidemiological comparative historical approach was adopted. Two data sources were used for deaths: parish registers 1912-1927 and the Boyacá Epidemiological Bulletin 2007 population census for 1912-1918-1927 and 2005 (Colombian Statistics Bureau - DANE); data was stored and analysed in Mysql. Crude rates, age-specific and child mortality ratios and mortality were calculated by cause.
  
  
  RESULTS
  7,958 deaths were recorded from 1912-1927 compared to 5,813 in the 21st century. CDR dropped from 150 to 42 deaths per 10,000 inhabitants; the IMR became significantly reduced from 231 to 17 for every 1,000 LB. Although specific rates for children under 8 years of age could be compared to children under 5, there was variability in the range and construction of the specific MR and that defined by WHO-UNICEF.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There was a higher reduction in mortality in the 21st century due to national and international policies for controlling preventable diseases and maternal death. The 1918-19 flu pandemic significantly affected mortality in all population groups; violent causes were prominent in infant mortality in the 21st century.
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Enfermería, Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia, Tunja, Colombia. fred.manrique@uptc.edu.co
authors.forename: Fred G
authors.initials: FG
authors.lastname: Manrique-Abril
authors.forename: Abel F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Martínez-Martín
authors.forename: Bernardo F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Meléndez-Álvarez
mesh_terms: D000059:Accidents / Q000401:mortality; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003105:Colombia; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D006291:Health Policy; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality / Q000266:history / Q000639:trends; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007251:Influenza, Human / Q000266:history / Q000401:mortality; D008297:Male; D058873:Pandemics / Q000266:history; D011295:Prenatal Care / Q000639:trends; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000401:mortality; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014611:Vaccination / Q000266:history / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014754:Violence