The child mortality rate in the United States, for children under the age of five, was 462.9 deaths per thousand births in 1800. This means that for every thousand babies born in 1800, over 46 percent did not make it to their fifth birthday. Over the course of the next 220 years, this number has dropped drastically, and the rate has dropped to its lowest point ever in 2020 where it is just seven deaths per thousand births. Although the child mortality rate has decreased greatly over this 220 year period, there were two occasions where it increased; in the 1870s, as a result of the fourth cholera pandemic, smallpox outbreaks, and yellow fever, and in the late 1910s, due to the Spanish Flu pandemic.

The infant mortality rate in Canada, for children under the age of one year old, was 187 deaths per thousand births in 1900. This means that for all babies born in 1865, almost one fifth did not survive past their first birthday. Over the course of the next 120 years, this number has dropped significantly. The rate dropped to its lowest point ever in the 2000s, at five deaths per thousand births.

The infant mortality rate in the United States, for children under the age of one (twelve months), was 60 deaths per thousand births in 1935. Approximately six percent of children born in 1935 did not survive past their first birthday. Over the course of the next 85 years, this number has dropped significantly, and the rate has reached its lowest point ever in the period between 2015 and 2020, at six deaths per thousand births. Figures have been below ten since the 1990s.

In 1900, the child mortality rate in Columbia was estimated to be approximately 417 deaths per thousand births, meaning that almost 42% of all children born in these years would not survive past their fifth birthday. This rate would remain largely unchanged until the end of the First World War, when a return of export markets and a booming coffee market would provide the economic capital needed for improvements in health and sanitation programs in Colombia, causing child mortality to nearly halve between 1915 and 1930. However, the Great Depression, and the subsequent loss of export markets in the Second World War, would cause child mortality to begin to rise in Colombia, as scaled-back government health programs would have trouble importing necessary medical supplies.

After peaking at almost 250 deaths per thousand births in 1945, however, child mortality would begin to decline once more, as mass vaccination programs, improvements in access to the country’s healthcare services, and continued modernization would see child mortality decline throughout the remainder of the 20th century, falling to just 27 deaths per thousand by 2000. As Colombia continues to modernize its health programs and improve access to nutrition in the country, child mortality has continued to fall, and it is estimated that over 98% of all children born today will survive past their fifth birthday.

The child mortality rate in the United Kingdom, for children under the age of five, was 329 deaths per thousand births in 1800. This means that approximately one in every three children born in 1800 did not make it to their fifth birthday. Over the course of the next 220 years, this number has dropped drastically, particularly in the first half of the twentieth century, and the rate has dropped to its lowest point ever in 2020 where it is just four deaths per thousand births.

In 2023, there were 20,162 infant deaths reported in the United States. This is a large decrease from 29,505 infant deaths in the year 1995. Infant deaths are those among infants under one, and don't include fetal deaths.

The child mortality rate in Canada, for children under the age of five, was 333 deaths per thousand births in the year 1830. This means that one third of all children born in 1830 did not make it to their fifth birthday. Child mortality remained above 25 percent for the remainder of the nineteenth century, before falling at a much faster rate throughout the 1900s. By the year 2020, Canada's child mortality rate is expected to be just five deaths per thousand births.

The child mortality rate in Australia, for children under the age of five, was 391 deaths per thousand births in 1860. This means that just under forty percent of all children born in 1860 did not make it to their fifth birthday. This number dropped drastically over the next ten years, then it remained between 150 and two hundred for the remainder of the 1800s, before dropping consistently from 1900 until today. By 2020, child mortality in Australia is expected to be approximately four deaths per thousand births.

There were 2,784 infant deaths in the United Kingdom in 2021, compared with 2,620 in the previous year. The number of infant deaths in 2020 was the fewest in the provided time period, especially compared with 1900 when there were 163,470 infant deaths.

Although vaccination was discovered in England in 1796, the practice was not made compulsory until 1853 in England and Wales, and 1864 in Scotland. For this reason, the number of smallpox deaths per million people fluctuated from year to year, often doubling or tripling from one year to the next, before the death rate for both countries settled in the late 1960s. The Great Pandemic of the 1870s, which was the last major smallpox pandemic in Europe, caused the number of smallpox deaths to soar once more, peaking at over 1,000 deaths per million people in England and Wales in 1871, and at over 820 deaths per million people in Scotland in 1872. During this pandemic, mandatory vaccination became enforced, where parents who did not vaccinate their children within the first three years of life were penalized with fines or imprisonment, and this helped the smallpox death rate to remain low and plateau in the final two decades of the nineteenth century; an estimated 11,000 of these penalties were handed out during the 1880s, which included 115 prison sentences for failure to vaccinate children. Smallpox cases in Britain were rare throughout the early twentieth century; not counting a lab accident in 1978 that infected two people (one of whom died), natural smallpox cases were eradicated in Britain in 1934.

Influenza and pneumonia caused around 12.3 deaths in the U.S. per 100,000 population in 2019. Influenza and pneumonia are among the leading causes of death in the United States, accounting for around 1.6 percent of all deaths in 2020. Influenza, or the flu, is a viral infection that is highly contagious and especially common in the winter season. Influenza is a common cause of pneumonia, although most cases of the flu do not develop into pneumonia. Pneumonia is an infection or inflammation of the lungs and is particularly deadly among young children and the elderly.

Influenza cases

Influenza is very common in the United States, with an estimated 35 million cases reported in 2019-2020. Common symptoms of the flu include cough, fever, runny or stuffy nose, sore throat and headache. Symptoms can be mild but can also be severe enough to require medical attention. In 2019-2020, there were around 16 million influenza-related medical visits in the United States.

Prevention

To prevent contracting the flu people can take everyday precautions such as regularly washing their hands and avoiding those who are sick, but the best way to prevent the flu is by receiving the flu vaccination every year. Receiving a flu vaccination is especially important for young children and the elderly as they are most susceptible to flu complications and associated death. In 2021, around 75 percent of those aged 65 years and older received a flu vaccine, while only 38 percent of those aged 18 to 49 years had done so.

The child mortality rate in the Netherlands, for children under the age of five, was 324 deaths per thousand births in 1800. This means that just under one third of all children born in 1860 did not make it to their fifth birthday. Child mortality reached its highest recorded level in the Netherlands in the late nineteenth century, as rapid industrialization led to increased urbanization, which in turn allowed diseases to spread much faster, although it did decrease from 1875 until today. The only times where the rate deviated were in the 1910s and 1940s, due to the Spanish Flu pandemic and the Second World War. By 2020, the child mortality rate of the Netherlands is expected to be just three deaths per thousand.

Over the past 160 years, life expectancy (from birth) in the United States has risen from 39.4 years in 1860, to 78.9 years in 2020. One of the major reasons for the overall increase of life expectancy in the last two centuries is the fact that the infant and child mortality rates have decreased by so much during this time. Medical advancements, fewer wars and improved living standards also mean that people are living longer than they did in previous centuries.

Despite this overall increase, the life expectancy dropped three times since 1860; from 1865 to 1870 during the American Civil War, from 1915 to 1920 during the First World War and following Spanish Flu epidemic, and it has dropped again between 2015 and now. The reason for the most recent drop in life expectancy is not a result of any specific event, but has been attributed to negative societal trends, such as unbalanced diets and sedentary lifestyles, high medical costs, and increasing rates of suicide and drug use.

Life expectancy from birth in Africa was just over 36 years in 1950. As a wave of independence movements and decolonization swept the continent between the 1950s and early 1970s, life expectancy rose greatly in Africa; particularly due to improvements and control over medical services, better sanitation and the widespread promotion of vaccinations in the country resulted in a sharp decrease in child mortality; one of the most significant reasons for Africa’s low life expectancy rates. Life expectancy in the continent would continue to steadily increase for much of the second half of the 20th century, however, life expectancy would flatline at around 52 years in the latter half of the 1980s, as the HIV/AIDS epidemic quickly grew to become one of the leading causes of death in the continent. After hovering around the low-fifties in the 1980s to and 1990s, life expectancy would begin to rise again at the turn of the millennium, and is estimated to be over 64 years in 2020.

The burden of influenza in the United States can vary from year to year depending on which viruses are circulating, how many people receive an influenza vaccination, and how effective the vaccination is in that particular year. During the 2023-2024 flu season, around 28,000 people lost their lives to the disease. Although most people recover from influenza without needing medical care, the disease can be deadly among young children, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems or chronic illnesses. Deaths due to influenza Even though most people recover from influenza without medical care, influenza and pneumonia can be deadly, especially for older people and those with certain preexisting conditions. Influenza is a common cause of pneumonia and although most cases of influenza do not develop into pneumonia, those that do are often more severe and more deadly. Deaths due to influenza are most common among the elderly, with a mortality rate of around 32 per 100,000 population during the 2023-2024 flu season. In comparison, the mortality rate for those aged 50 to 64 years was 9.1 per 100,000 population. Flu vaccinations The most effective way to prevent influenza is to receive an annual influenza vaccination. These vaccines have proven to be safe and are usually cheap and easily accessible. Nevertheless, every year a large share of the population in the United States still fails to get vaccinated against influenza. For example, in the 2022-2023 flu season, only 35 percent of those aged 18 to 49 years received a flu vaccination. Unsurprisingly, children and the elderly are the most likely to get vaccinated. It is estimated that during the 2022-2023 flu season, vaccinations prevented over 929 thousand influenza cases among children aged 6 months to 4 years.