Historical cause of death 1700s-1900s
What did cholera infantum mean on a death certificate?
On a death record, cholera infantum meant acute summer diarrhea and vomiting in infants and toddlers, unrelated to Asiatic cholera. In modern terms it usually pointed to infant gastroenteritis, usually from contaminated milk or water. Deaths spike in July and August in city registers, which is why the season alone often identifies the term on a damaged record. Expect it on records mostly 1700s-1900s.
Also written on records as: summer complaint, summer diarrhea, infantile cholera.
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Related terms
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FAQs
What is cholera infantum called today?+
Infant gastroenteritis, usually from contaminated milk or water, broadly speaking. Doctors of the period diagnosed without laboratory tests, so one label often covered several conditions we would now separate. This page explains historical record language and is not medical advice.
How was cholera infantum written on death records?+
Clerks and doctors also wrote summer complaint, summer diarrhea, and infantile cholera. Spelling wandered from register to register, so check every variant before you decide a record is missing or wrong.
Where do these definitions come from?+
They are drawn from period dictionaries, government archive glossaries, and standard genealogy references, cross-checked against each other; provenance is documented with the dataset. Inside AncestorIQ, Deep Research reads the record itself and explains terms like this in context, against your ancestor's own document.
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