Infant deaths decline in San Diego

The infant mortality rate in San Diego County has declined in the last 16 years and is now lower than it is in the state and the nation.

In 2016 – the most recent year for which data is available in San Diego County – the rate of infant deaths in the region was 3.7 deaths for every 1,000 live births, well below the Healthy People 2010 national target of 6.0. In comparison, the infant mortality rate in California was 4.5 and 5.6 in the United States. The current San Diego rate is also much lower than the 5.9 deaths being reported in 2000.

The same data show that the mortality rate for African-A...