Queensland Paediatrics, 1859 – 1931

The first European community in Queensland, the Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, was established in 1824 and continued until 1842 when the area was opened up to free settlers. In the official records of the time there is little mention of the health of children, although the presence of a small number is noted. It is only possible to speculate which diseases were prevalent among the young. Epidemics of ophthalmia, presumably trachoma, dysentery and intermittent fever were recorded in the adult population and, as these conditions were infectious, undoubtedly children would have been included amongst their victims. At the time, one death for twenty-two live births was recorded, a comparatively low infant mortality rate. This may have been because the young population was so small and the children were isolated from the epidemics of childhood disease which occurred in Sydney in the same period.