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Social Factors Affecting The Mortality Burden Of Infectious Disease

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Toronto in 1902 was a city on the cusp of transformation. It was a city marked, like many large Western cities by the high probability of death at a young age. At this time period life in large cities was characterized by many deaths due to infectious disease. According to the death records collected from the year 1902 to 1904 by the city of Toronto, 8.1% of the total population died from gastroenteritis or typhoid. For the purposes of comparison, it is important to note that the mortality burden of all infectious diseases at this time period was extremely high, with these cases making up to 41.3% of the total population mortality. There were numerous social conditions that affected this reality, and in this particular case study, had the power to either increase or decrease the mortality burdens of infectious disease. These social factors will be further studied in the paper, and they include, but are not limited to: housing, socioeconomic status, diet, age, water quality, waste management, hygiene, rapid industrialization, increased population growth, immigration, scientific advancements, increased classification and record keeping, and the role of government. The common thread between all of these realms and typhoid, is the focus of this paper: public health. It is because of the particularly high rate of infection and death due to typhoid and gastroenteritis that I have chosen to study this particular disease over other options present in the data sample. This paper

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