Pandemics and socio-economic status. Evidence from the plague of 1630 in northern Italy.

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  • Additional Information
    • Source:
      Publisher: Routledge Country of Publication: England NLM ID: 0376427 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1477-4747 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00324728 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Popul Stud (Camb) Subsets: MEDLINE
    • Publication Information:
      Publication: London : Routledge
      Original Publication: London [etc.] Population Investigation Committee [etc.]
    • Subject Terms:
      Pandemics* ; Economic Status*; Humans ; Italy/epidemiology ; Social Class ; Hospitalization ; Socioeconomic Factors
    • Abstract:
      This paper investigates the biological, socio-economic, and institutional factors shaping the individual risk of death during a major pre-industrial epidemic. We use a micro-demographic database for an Italian city (Carmagnola) during the 1630 plague to explore in detail the survival dynamics of the population admitted to the isolation hospital ( lazzaretto ). We develop a theoretical model of admissions to the lazzaretto , for better interpretation of the observational data. We explore how age and sex shaped the individual risk of death, and we provide a one-of-a-kind study of the impact of socio-economic status. We report an inversion of the normal mortality gradient by status for those interned at the lazzaretto . The rich enjoyed a greater ability to make decisions about their hospitalization, but this backfired. Instead, the poor sent to the lazzaretto faced a relatively low risk of death because they enjoyed better conditions than they would have experienced outside the hospital.
    • Contributed Indexing:
      Keywords: Italy; health inequality; historical demography; mortality crises; pandemics; plague; poverty; seventeenth century; survival
    • Publication Date:
      Date Created: 20230510 Date Completed: 20240313 Latest Revision: 20240313
    • Publication Date:
      20250114
    • Accession Number:
      10.1080/00324728.2023.2197412
    • Accession Number:
      37161858