[Mortality from tetanus in children less than 1 year of age, Mexico, 1970-1982]. / La mortalidad por tétanos en menores de un año, México 1970-1982.

The results of a study about mortality by tetanus in Mexican children under one year of age, during the 1970-1982 period, are reported. This age-group was subdivided in three, as follows: perinatal (less than 7 days), neonatal (less than 29 days) and postneonatal (29 to 364 days). Mortality by tetanus in children under one year of age showed a decreasing trend during the mentioned period, and this was most pronounced from 1979, because of changes in the codification of mortality by tetanus in this group of age. On the other hand, it was found that the greatest proportion of deaths by tetanus happened in the under one year of age group, and particularly in the neonatal group (less than 29 days). The geographic distribution of tetanus in Mexico was studied later, and showed a predominant incidence of the disease in coastal states of the country; an additional finding in this investigation was the displacement of the disease from the Pacific strip to the Gulf of Mexico. Finally, the mortality differentials by sex were studied, and showed that males were the most affected in the three age groups. We cannot explain this finding at the time.

[Malnutrition as a multiple cause of death]. / El análisis de la desnutrición como causa múltiple de muerte.

With the purpose of describing the role of malnutrition at death time, an analysis of multiple causes of death in children under five years-old was performed on deaths which occurred during April and May 1985 in Mexico City. A proportional mortality analysis was done taking in consideration all the causes listed on the death certificate, not only the underlying causes. The number of deaths associated to malnutrition was greater by multiple cause than by underlying cause (OR = 7.9, 95% CI 5.0-12.7, p = 0.00000). The importance of considering multiple causes of death, mainly when there are frequent diseases which are some times recorded as underlying cause of death, is also discussed.

[Years of potential life lost in Mexico. Applications in the planning of health services]. / Años de vida potencial perdidos en México. Aplicaciones en la planeación de servicios de salud.

During health care services planning, rational and coherent information is required in order to allocate resources in accordance with local relative need. In an attempt to recognize the national condition, Stone's method was used. This is a semi-quantitative method for analysing the relationship between health care resources and need. Years of potential life lost index was used for need assessment among the states, and confronted to its Federal Public Health Investment. The optimum resource/need ratio is regarded as that pertaining to the reference population, the nation as a whole. Deviation from the optimum ratio in the states is interpreted as a manifestation of inequitable resource distribution. The results show striking differences in needs and resources. Resource/need ratio varied from 0.21 in Oaxaca to 3.79 in Distrito Federal. The states least favoured in resource sharing were Oaxaca, Puebla, Hidalgo and México. On the other hand, Tamaulipas, Baja California Sur, Quintana Roo and Distrito Federal exceeded the optimum. These indexes permit a quantitative expression of the relationship between need and resources in order to reach geographical equity.