Historical epidemiology of smallpox in Åland, Finland

1751–1890

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10968581
AutoresJames H Mielke (Department of Anthropology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, autor de correspondencia), L B Jorde (0000-0002-0606-1862, Folkhälsans Forskningscentrum), P Gene Trapp (Department of Anthropology, The University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045), Douglas L Anderton (Department of Sociology, The University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois 60637), Kari Pitkänen (0000-0001-5687-3108, University of Helsinki), Aldur W Eriksson (Antropogenetisch Institut Vrije Universiteit, P.O. Box 7161, Amsterdam 1007MC, The Netherlands)
Año1984
Volumen21
Número3
Páginas271-295
Fecha de publicación1984-08-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDemography (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0070-3370 • E-ISSN: 1533-7790
EditorialDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2307/2061159
OpenAlexW4299446013
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas29

We analyze a 140-year series of smallpox deaths in the Åland Islands, Finland. Vaccination, introduced in 1805, dramatically reduced the annual number of smallpox deaths. It also influenced the age distribution of smallpox deaths, changing smallpox from a childhood disease before 1805 to one which affected both adults and children after 1805. This appears to be due to the fact that Ålanders were usually vaccinated only once during childhood and often lost their immunity during adulthood. Spectral analysis of the prevaccination time series of smallpox deaths demonstrates a strong seven-year periodicity, reflecting the amount of time necessary to build up a cohort of nonimmune individuals. After the introduction of vaccination, the periodicity changes to eight years. The probability that a parish in Åland was affected by a smallpox epidemic is shown to be highly correlated with migration patterns and parish population sizes

Biology · Geography · Population · Smallpox · Smallpox vaccine · Smallpox virus · Sociology · Vaccination · Vaccinia · Variola virus · COVID-19 epidemiological studies · Demography · Epidemiology · Medicine · Virology · Yersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites research · Zoonotic diseases and public health