(TheConservativeTimes.org) – On Wednesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the mortality rate of infants in the United States rose by 3 percent in the past year.
The infant mortality rate is gauged by the number of babies that die before they turn one year old. The number of babies born annually varies of course, and medical researchers prefer to have many years to compare and rate to see trends over time.
Another important finding of the CDC report was that bacterial meningitis and maternal complications were two of the top-growing causes of infant mortality. Additionally, cases significantly increased for infants 37 weeks old or younger, male newborns, and white and Native American babies.
In 2022, out of every thousand babies that made it to their first birthday, 5.6 did not. The year before, out of one thousand babies, 5.44 infants died. Missouri, Texas, Iowa, and Georgia have the highest growth rate in the number of infant deaths.
While the difference between the percentages seems minute, it is a considerably larger difference when compared between the years 2001 and 2002. The lead writer of the CDC report, Danielle Ely, does not know if this latest increase in infant death rates will continue or if it was just a deviation from the usual rates. Ely recognized that individual states affect the national rate in different ways. It is challenging for her to hypothesize what factors in each state caused the deviation.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the number of all U.S. deaths, including people older than 65, saw an overall decrease of 5 percent.
When compared to other industrialized nations, the United States has an infant mortality rate that is shockingly high. Some possible reasons given for these disparities include the mother being impoverished or failing to implement relevant prenatal care regimens or other explanations. Overall, the infant mortality rate of babies in America has been decreasing.
A neonatologist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Dr. Eric Eichenwald, found the report’s results “disturbing.” He said medical professionals can only theorize reasons why the mortality rates have spiked significantly in 2022.
The CDC’s report said this is the largest increase in newborn deaths in the past twenty years. A researcher who studies mortality at the University of Maryland, Marie Thoma, said it is worrying that infant death rates are rising instead of falling. Thoma was especially concerned since infant mortality rates had been in decline during the last two decades.
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