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Scarlet fever and nineteenth‐century mortality trends: a reply to Romola Davenport

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  • Simon Szreter
  • Graham Mooney

Abstract

Romola Davenport's recent article is presented as a significant revision of the interpretation of the reasons for rising and then falling urban mortality in Britain in the nineteenth century put forward by Szreter and Mooney, which emphasized the importance of the politics of public health. Davenport's claims that mortality patterns c. 1830–70 were driven by a synchronized rise and fall of scarlet fever across Europe and North America, as well as in rural locations in Britain, are based on frail and inconclusive forms of evidence. The epidemiological evidence presented by Davenport in fact indicates a chronologically lagging—not leading—role for scarlet fever in contributing to the rise in urban death rates before 1850 and the subsequent fall in urban mortality after c. 1870 in Britain.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Szreter & Graham Mooney, 2021. "Scarlet fever and nineteenth‐century mortality trends: a reply to Romola Davenport," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(4), pages 1087-1095, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:74:y:2021:i:4:p:1087-1095
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.13042
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Szreter, S., 2003. "The population health approach in historical perspective," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 93(3), pages 421-431.
    2. TokeS. Aidt & Martin Daunton & Jayasri Dutta, 2010. "The Retrenchment Hypothesis and the Extension of the Franchise in England and Wales," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(547), pages 990-1020, September.
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    Cited by:

    1. Luque de Haro, Víctor Antonio, 2024. "Social inequalities in adult mortality across Europe (18th-21st centuries): A critical analysis of theories and evidence," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    2. Ramon Ramon-Muñoz & Josep-Maria Ramon-Muñoz, 2024. "The urban–rural height gap: evidence from late nineteenth-century Catalonia," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 18(1), pages 103-149, January.
    3. Romola J. Davenport, 2021. "Nineteenth‐century mortality trends: a reply to Szreter and Mooney," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 74(4), pages 1096-1110, November.

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