Abstract

NETZAHUALCOYOTZI MENDEZ, Marciano. The Period of Smallpox in a Village in Tlaxcala: Mortality and Preventive Measures (1830, 1840, and 1903). Desacatos [online]. 2013, n.43, pp.127-146. ISSN 2448-5144.

Smallpox was one of the most recurrent epidemic diseases in Mexico up to the mid-twentieth century. In this context, the study of the mortality experiences of 1830, 1840, and 1903 in a community of central Mexico, San Bernardino Contla, Tlaxcala, allows us to identify the incidence of two of the main measures of prevention, the use of inoculation and the use of the vaccine thereafter. Also, it is possible to assess the presence or absence of mortality crises, as the benchmark to evaluate the acceptance or rejection of the antidote in a rural village. Finally, the analysis of deaths stratified by sex and age shows the groups of people at highest risk of contracting the virus.

Keywords : smallpox; epidemics; mortality; inoculation; vaccination.

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