During the Porfiriato, there were several epidemics in Yucatán, but two in particular were lethal, as revealed by the book Demography, medicine, and Public Health in the District of Mérida (1874-1901), which was presented this Wednesday during the National Demographic History Network Congress.
Ricardo Manuel Wan Moguel, the coordinator of the congress and author of the book, indicated that the editorial that was presented is a research work that talks about the causes of death, public health, and the different diseases that plagued the population of Mérida between the years 1874. and 1901, a period in which the Caste War was taking place.
“The epidemics that were analyzed in the book are basically those that plagued the population in the period of the Porfiriato, such as smallpox, measles, yellow fever, as well as other endemic diseases such as malaria,” indicated the author, who elaborated that the basis of the document was more than 20 thousand death certificates consulted.
The researcher said that from the minute he analyzed the demographic impact caused by the diseases of that time, to understand what type of population it affected, where they lived, what the economic situation was like for the people who died from certain illnesses, and to know how the authorities combated this problem.
Of the various epidemics that occurred at the end of the 19th century, he mentioned that there are two that are the subject of study in the book, such as smallpox, which affected Yucatán between 1874 and 1875, a period in which 1,500 died alone. In the Yucatecan capital, while in the rest of the State 15 thousand Yucatecans died from this condition.
“It was a strong epidemic compared to others that had occurred. The other strong epidemic was measles, which affected between 1882 and 1883 and killed about 800 people in Mérida. They are the two epidemics with the highest lethality for that period because they represented five percent of the population (of Yucatán) at that time,” he said.
He commented that the book also highlights the fact that smallpox killed more adults than children compared to other entities in the country, because as Yucatán was experiencing the Caste War, the conflict somehow prevented the authorities from vaccinating the population, so the epidemics reduced the population.
Regarding the sale of the book of more than 400 pages, he indicated that it is for sale on the online page of the Colegio de Michoacán, which has a retail price of 760 pesos, in addition to some copies being available for consultation at the library of the Autonomous University of Yucatán (Uady), as well as some others in the city.
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