The Epidemiologic Transition Reflected in the Parish Burial Registers in Three Communities from Mureș Valley
The Epidemiologic Transition Reflected in the Parish Burial Registers in Three Communities from Mureș Valley

Summary/Abstract: Abdel. R. Omran studied the mortality patterns with regards to causes of deaths, different stages of infectious and degenerative diseases and developed the epidemiologic theory. He formulates stages of the linear declining trend of infectious diseases leading to a decline in mortality, and an increase in degenerative diseases. The present study tries to identify the characteristics of the epidemiologic transition in some communities from Mureș Valley between 1859 and 1930. The sources consist of parish burial registers for the Reformed-Calvinist communities which offer information about the date of death, age, gender, and, most importantly, the main diseases which led to death for each individual recorded. The analysis focuses on the main causes of death, gender and age-group distribution of mortality and the seasonal variation of the illnesses. The fundamental aspects of the epidemiologic transition found in these communities are the declining of the impact of infectious diseases, especially tuberculosis; infant mortality decline and that of the childrenunder 5 years of age.

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