why did baby die?

[Sandra Parker]

Can someone please help decipher this cause of infant death from 1921 in Melbourne Australia?. I can't work it out.
Thanks
Sandra

[AngelaR]

There's a condition called marasmus associated with malnutrition and appears in children in deprived areas of the world. They die of exhaustion, I think.

Angela

[Comosus]

This may be helpful, although the picture is a bit graphic: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marasmus

Andrew

[JAP]

Not just in deprived areas of the world.

I have some certificates from Victoria, Australia which specify 'marasmus' as the cause of death.

Perhaps 'failure to thrive' might be a more general description.

Perhaps the mother couldn't feed the baby.

Or the baby had some undiagnosed condition which meant that it couldn't digest whatever food it was given ...

Very sad.

JAP

[Sandra Parker]

Thank you all. So the mysterious initial flourish was an 'M'.
The family concerned had 2 sons pre WW1 in England and another boy who died aged 6 months in 1911, and 2 daughters after arrival in Australia in 1915, as well as this little chap. So it would appear that the cause was more likely to be along the lines suggested by JAP.
I appreciate your help as always.
Sandra