Texas State Health Plan: 1993-94 Page: 76
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defects registry intended to provide state heath
officials with information on the numbers and the
causes of birth defects, stillbirths, and other
handicapping conditions. The long-range goal is
to decrease the prevalence of such conditions.
The Texas Department Health (TDH) is preparing
a recommendation to the 73rd Texas Legislature
to establish a statewide birth defects and disabled
children's registry.
Infants are susceptible to communicable diseases
which may prove fatal. Minority children are
disproportionately affected. Hispanic and Black
preschool children, particularly in urban areas,
face seven to ten times the risk of contracting
these diseases as White children. In 1990 nearly
half of all measles cases in the nation occurred
among children less than five years of age.
Nation-wide that year there were 27,672 cases of
measles and 89 deaths, mostly children.' In 1990
4,400 measles cases were reported in Texas
including 12 deaths. (See Figure 20) Measles is
preventable by immunization. The Centers for
Disease Control (CDC) estimate that nationwide
40 to 60 percent of children under two years of
age have not received adequate immunizations.2
According to vital statistics collected by TDH
there were 316,257 live births reported in Texas
in 1990. There were 2,086 fetal deaths in 1990,
a decline of 1.2 percent from 1989, for a fetal
death rate of 6.6 per 1,000 live births. The
national goal for the year 2000 is no more the 5.0
per 1,000. There were 1,552 neonatal deaths for
a 4.9 neonatal mortality rate (neonatal deaths per
1,000 live births). The national goal for 2000 is
4.5.
There were 2,536 infant deaths during 1990. The
infant mortality rate (deaths per 1,000 live births)
for the state dropped to a record low of 8.0, well
under the national rate of 9.1. This decrease
indicates that Texas is progressing toward the
objective established by Healthy Texans 2000 of a
7.0 rate. (See Figure 8) Racial variance is
illustrated by an infant mortality rate of 6.8 for
Whites, 7.3 for Hispanics, and 14.6 for Blacks.
The six leading causes of death of infants is
presented in Figure 29.FIGURE 29
1990 LEADING CAUSES OF DEATH
TEXAS, AGE LESS THAN 1Congenital Anomalies
SIDS
Low Birthwe
Maternal Coi
Respiratory inf.o 100 200 300 400
1 1 1
8r7RDS s
rnplio. _! 6
Infec0 100 200 300
Males Females400
Source: TDH, Bureau of Vital Statistics
TDH combines types of infant death into 13
categories: infectious diseases, diseases of the
nervous system, respiratory infections,
gastrointestinal causes, all congenital anomalies,
maternal complications, low birth weight (LBW,
less than five pounds - eight ounces), or short
gestation, birth trauma, asphyxiation, respiratory
distress syndrome and related respiratory diseases
(RDS), neonatal hemorrhaging, sudden infant
death syndrome (SIDS), and all "other causes."
In 1990 there were 1,693 infant deaths attributed
to congenital and perinatal conditions; 391 to
symptoms, signs, and ill-defined conditions (302
SIDS); 52 to pneumonia and influenza; 19 to
homicides and injuries purposely inflicted; 18 to
motor vehicle accidents; and 12 to neoplasms
(cancers).
Nation-wide, congenital anomalies were the
leading cause of death for White infants in 1989,
accounting for 25 percent of all deaths among
White infants. The leading cause for Blacks was
disorders relating to short gestation and
unspecified LBW, accounting for 15 percent of all
deaths among black infants. That year the risk of
dying within the first year of life was 2.3 times
greater for black than for White infants.3 In
Texas the leading causes of neonatal deaths (61.2
percent of infant deaths) in 1990 were RDS,
LBW, maternal complication, and congenital
anomalies. In 1987 LBW accounted for 70.6
percent of neonatal deaths.4 Nationally, the
leading causes of post-neonatal deaths were SIDS
and congenital anomalies.' CDC state "most post-76
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Texas. Statewide Health Coordinating Council. Texas State Health Plan: 1993-94, report, 1992; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1586367/m1/94/?rotate=180: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.