Articles: health.
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In 1982 Costa Rica had an infant mortality of 18 per 1000 live births and a life expectancy at birth of 76 years for women and 72 years for men. In the evolution of infant health in Costa Rica two paradigms were identified. One developed in the decades before 1970 and the other during the 1970s. ⋯ The "infectious disease paradigm" recognized infectious diseases as the main determinants of morbidity, mortality and malnutrition in childhood. The strategies derived from such a revolutionary paradigm aimed at the control and eradication of infectious diseases, and they resulted in a rapid improvement of child nutrition and health. However, the infectious disease paradigm does not seem to reduce infant mortality below the present level.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)