Secular trends in tuberculosis during the second epidemiological transition: a Swiss perspective

The second epidemiologic transition is defined as “the age of receding pandemics”, wherein mortality declines, life expectancy increases, and population growth occurs. The major causes of death also shifted from predominantly acute infectious diseases to degenerative and “man-made” diseases (Omran, 1983). The aim of this study was to determine the timing of the transition in Zürich (Switzerland) and to investigate patterns of tuberculosis mortality during this period. This is one of the first studies to specifically investigate the timing of the second transition in Zürich, Switzerland. The data sources for this study were Swiss records of mortality from the Staatsarchiv (Canton Archives), Stadtarchiv (City Archives) and a published volume of State Statistics (Historische Statistik der Schweiz). The changes in mortality through time were addressed for all causes of death in the city ofZürichfor the years 1893 to 1933 that is, the time including the second epidemiological transition. After 1933 the structure of the mortality data collection changed as the responsibility was transferred away from the canton archives. Mortality from tuberculosis was then examined in greater detail and compared with changes in living standards as well as population density occurring at the time. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/aa.2013.32011 Posted at the Zurich Open Repository and Archive, University of Zurich ZORA URL: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-78615 Published Version Originally published at: Holloway, Kara L; Henneberg, Renata; de Barros Lopes, Miguel; Staub, Kaspar; Link, Karl; Rühli, Frank J; Henneberg, Maciej (2013). Secular trends in tuberculosis during the second epidemiological transition: a Swiss perspective. Advances in Anthropology , 03(02):78-90. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4236/aa.2013.32011 Advances in Anthropology 2013. Vol.3, No.2, 78-90 Published Online May 2013 in SciRes (http://www.scirp.org/journal/aa) DOI:10.4236/aa.2013.32011 Copyright © 2013 SciRes. 78 Secular Trends in Tuberculosis during the Second Epidemiological Transition: A Swiss Perspective Kara L. Holloway, Renata Henneberg, Miguel de Barros Lopes, Kaspar Staub, Karl Link, Frank Rühli, Maciej Henneberg Biological Anthropology and Comparative Anatomy Research Unit, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia Centre for Evolutionary Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, University of Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland Email: [email protected] Received January 17, 2013; revised February 23, 2013; accepted March 1, 2013 Copyright © 2013 Kara L. Holloway et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The second epidemiologic transition is defined as “the age of receding pandemics”, wherein mortality declines, life expectancy increases, and population growth occurs. The major causes of death also shifted from predominantly acute infectious diseases to degenerative and “man-made” diseases (Omran, 1983). The aim of this study was to determine the timing of the transition in Zürich (Switzerland) and to investigate patterns of tuberculosis mortality during this period. This is one of the first studies to specifically investigate the timing of the second transition in Zürich, Switzerland. The data sources for this study were Swiss records of mortality from the Staatsarchiv (Canton Archives), Stadtarchiv (City Archives) and a published volume of State Statistics (Historische Statistik der Schweiz). The changes in mortality through time were addressed for all causes of death in the city of Zürich for the years 1893 to 1933 that is, the time including the second epidemiological transition. After 1933 the structure of the mortality data collection changed as the responsibility was transferred away from the canton archives. Mortality from tuberculosis was then examined in greater detail and compared with changes in living standards as well as population density occurring at the time.