Mortality and morbidity from Influenza in Swiss cantons, 1953-1958

Contact: PD Dr. Kaspar Staub kaspar.staub@iem.uzh.ch

Description:

For the LEAD Hub, we digitized and analyzed the following historical demographic and epidemiological data for all Swiss cantons the first time: Since the end of the 19th century, the Federal Health Office (Eidgenössisches Gesundheitsamt) published a weekly bulletin. For the period January 1953 to December 1958, we have digitized and transcribed the following monthly series: Monthly deaths from influenza and all causes for all Swiss cantons; Weekly reported new cases of Influenza-like-Illness for all cantons; Yearly population numbers for all cantons (source). There was no change in the obligation to report new influenza cases during the observation period. 

Codebook:

Worksheet «MonthlyDeaths”

• Month = Reporting month
• Year = Reporting year
• Parameter = Variable description (here “Deaths influenza” and “Deaths total”)
• ZH to CH = Official abbreviations of the Swiss cantons

Worksheet “WeeklyInfluenzaCases”

• Start week = Start date of the reporting week
• End week = End date of the reporting week
• Parameter: Variable description (here “Newly reported Influenza cases”)
• ZH to CH = Official abbreviations of the Swiss cantons

Worksheet “Population”

• ZH to CH = Official abbreviations of the Swiss cantons