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Show Utah's Infant Death Rate is Increasing ' Utah's rate of deaths under one year of age per 1,000 live births increased during 1975 according to provisional data released by the Utah State Division of Health, Bureau of Health Statisitics. This is the first time since 1968 that the Utah infant mortality rate has increased. In 1968, the infant mortality rate was 17.7. It steadily declined to a low of 12.2 in 1974. In 1975 there were 407 infant deaths to residents of Utah out of a total of 31,300 resident live births for a rate of 13.0. In 1974 the Utah infant mortality rate was the lowest in the nation. The next lowest rate was recorded in California with a rate of 13.7 while the national rate was 16.7. The Utah. infant mortality rate is consistently the lowest in the nation. The reasons for the increased in-creased infant mortality rate in 1975 are being studied. It could be a result of an increased percentage of births among the very young females (teenagers) and among the older women (ages 40-44). Utah has traditionally had unusually high birth rates in those age categories and it is known that the risk of infant death is greater in those ages. Additionally, analysis of prior years' data indicates that those rural areas of the state with relatively high percentages percent-ages of Indian population have shown an increase in their infant mortality rates as compared com-pared to the rest of the population. For example in 1974 the Utah infant mortality rate for Indians was 40.5 per 1,000 Indian births. The low infant mortality rate in Utah is a valuable accomplishment accom-plishment for the residents of Utah. However, it should be recognized that more can be achieved. The latest available published data on the International Inter-national scene is from the World Health Organization for 1972. In their report dais are presented for most of the nations around the world, excluding the Communist countries. There are seven nations who had lower infant mortality rates than Utah in 1972. These are primarily the Scandinavian countries: Denmark, Den-mark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Ice-land, the Netherlands and Sweden which had the lowest rate of n'l nations. 10.8 per thousand of live births. The only other country with a lower rate than Utah is Japan with a rate of 11.7. The leading cause of infant mortality is congenital anomalies anoma-lies which results in about 25 percent of all infant deaths in Utah. Following congenital anomalies are complications related to pregnancy and childbirth, Hyaline membrane disease, asphyxia of the newborn, immaturity and respiratory res-piratory distress syndrome. Seventy-five percent or three out of four of all the infants who die from those causes of death are premature by birth weight. That is they weigh 2500 grams or less at the time of birth. The remaining causes of death predominate after the first month of life and therefore are greatly influenced influ-enced by the environment of the infant at home. Among the leading causes of death here are accidents, influenza and pneumonia, infections and parasitic diseases. The further reduction of the infant mortality rate will likely depend upon educating high risk women (teenagers and women over 40) to avoid premature births and tc carefully monitor the infant's environment in the first year ol life. |