ABSTRACT
Objective@# To analyze the death among children under 5 years of age in Huzhou City, Zhejiang Province from 2012 and 2021, so as to provide insights into reduction of mortality among children. @*Methods@#The mortality surveillance data among children under 5 years of age in Huzhou City from 2012 to 2021 were collected from Children Death Report Cards and Surveillance Report among Children under 5 Years of Age, including gender, place of residence, date of death and death diagnosis. The trends in mortality and cause of death were analyzed among children under 5 years of age in Huzhou City from 2012 to 2021.@*Results@#A total of 1 262 deaths occurred among children under 5 years of age in Huzhou City from 2012 to 2021, with mean annual mortality of 4.39‰, and the mortality appeared a tendency towards a decline (χ2trend=132.695, P<0.001). A total of 899 infants died, with mean annual mortality of 3.13‰, and 363 children at ages of 1 to <5 years died, with mean annual mortality of 1.26‰. The mortality appeared a tendency towards a decline among both infants (χ2trend=117.778, P<0.001) and children at ages of 1 to <5 years (χ2trend=19.201, P<0.001). A total of 724 local children died, with mean annual mortality of 3.33‰, and there were 538 deaths among floating children, with mean annual mortality of 7.65‰. The mortality appeared a tendency towards a decline among both local (χ2trend=43.728, P<0.001) and floating children (χ2trend=94.038, P<0.001). The five most common causes of death included preterm birth or low birth weight (207 deaths, 16.40%), drowning (155 deaths, 12.28%), accidental asphyxia (138 deaths, 10.94%), other congenital abnormalities (126 deaths, 9.98%), and congenital heart diseases (113 deaths, 8.95%). @*Conclusions @#The mortality appeared a tendency towards a decline among children under 5 years of age in Huzhou City from 2012 to 2021, and preterm birth or low birth weight was the predominant cause of death.