An estimate of neonatal tetanus mortality in Iceland, 1790-1839

Neonatal tetanus mortality is estimated in 21 clusters of Icelandic parishes, beginning as early as 1790, mostly ending in 1839, using a method which Boerma and Stroh (1993) developed with contemporary data. Icelandic rates averaged about 60 per thousand, ranging from less than 10 to more than 250. Analysis and historical evidence suggest farming and especially fowling contributed to exposure to infection at birth. The need to obtain ages at death in selected intervals by days posed several methodological problems, but similar work on other historic European populations is invited.