Sowards K A
Department of Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman 99164-4020, USA.
Demography. 1997 Aug;34(3):399-409.
Linked death and birth records from San Antonio, Texas revealed that infectious infant mortality is increasingly a function of premature birth and low birth weight. Between 1935 and 1944, 4% of infectious infant deaths had associated causes involving prematurity and related conditions; by 1980, 25% of infectious infant deaths involved prematurity and more than 40% of those infants weighed less than 2,500 grams. The shift in birth-weight composition results almost entirely from an increase in very low-weight births. Under conditions of advanced perinatal technology, infectious infant mortality should no longer be viewed as wholly exogenous. These findings further undermine the contemporary relevance of the exogenous-endogenous distinction.
来自得克萨斯州圣安东尼奥市的关联死亡与出生记录显示，感染性婴儿死亡率越来越多地与早产和低出生体重有关。1935年至1944年间，4%的感染性婴儿死亡的相关病因涉及早产及相关病症；到1980年，25%的感染性婴儿死亡涉及早产，且这些婴儿中有40%以上体重不足2500克。出生体重构成的变化几乎完全是由于极低体重儿出生数量增加所致。在先进的围产期技术条件下，感染性婴儿死亡率不应再被视为完全是外部因素造成的。这些发现进一步削弱了外源性-内源性区分在当代的相关性。
