HC Deb 25 April 2001 vol 367 cc288-90W
Mr. Dobson

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of(a) E.coli poisoning and (b) salmonella poisoning have been reported in the United Kingdom in each year since 1970; and how many people died in each year. [151645]

Ms Stuart

[holding answer 1 March 2001]: Table 1 sets out the total number of laboratory-confirmed isolations of E.coli 0157 from humans reported to the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) in England and Wales, the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health in Scotland and the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Northern Ireland in each year since 1982. There are no reports prior to 1982.

There is no specific ICD-10 (International Classification of Diseases) code for Verocytotoxin-producing E.coli (VTEC) 0157 and therefore it is not possible to obtain data from the Office for National Statistics or the General Register Offices on deaths attributable to VTEC 0157 infection. Furthermore those who die following infection will usually have symptoms of kidney failure or brain damage and these features are more likely to be recorded on death certificates.

Table 1: E.coli 0157: Reports of laboratory-confirmed isolations from humans in the UK, 1982–2000
Year1 Scotland England and Wales Northern Ireland Total UK reports
1982 2 1 0 1
1983 2 6 0 6
19843 3 9 0 12
1985 3 50 0 53
1986 4 76 0 80
1987 12 89 0 101
1988 39 49 0 88
1989 87 119 1 207
1990 165 250 1 416
1991 202 361 2 565
1992 115 470 1 586
1993 119 385 2 506
1994 242 411 3 656

Table 1: E.coli 0157: Reports of laboratory-confirmed isolations from humans in the UK, 1982–2000
Year1 Scotland England and Wales Northern Ireland Total UK reports
1995 247 792 7 1,046
1996 506 660 14 1,180
1997 423 1,087 25 1,535
1998 217 890 24 1,131
1999 295 1,084 51 1,430
2000 200 897 48 1,145
1No data
2There were no reports of E.coli 0157 in the UK prior to 1982
3There were no laboratory reports of E.coli 0157 to the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) prior to 1984
4Data for 2000 remains provisional

Sources:

Scotland data are from the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) and represents laboratory reports (faecal isolates only) of Escherichia coli 0157 in humans England and Wales data is from the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens (LEP) and represents verocytotoxin-producing strains of E.coli 0157 isolated from humans Northern Ireland data are from the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Northern Ireland and represents laboratory reports of E.coli 0157 from humans.

Table 2 sets out the number of laboratory-confirmed reports of Salmonella in humans made to the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS) in England and Wales, the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health in Scotland and the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre in Northern Ireland in each year since 1970.

Table 2: Salmonella: Reports of laboratory-confirmed isolations from humans in the UK, 1970–20001
Year Scotland England and Wales Northern Ireland Total UK reports
1970 828 6,848 55 7,731
1971 983 6,784 36 7,803
1972 854 4,849 36 5,739
1973 919 6,871 29 7,819
1974 580 5,663 44 6,287
1975 1,157 8,912 120 10,189
1976 1,550 7,831 166 9,547
1977 889 6,505 117 7,511
1978 1,253 9,042 35 10,330
1979 1,483 10,381 71 11,935
1980 1,577 9,508 136 11,221
1981 2,526 10,251 131 12,908
1982 2,621 12,322 94 15,037
1983 2,288 15,155 186 17,629
1984 2,221 14,727 157 17,105
1985 1,690 13,330 109 15,129
1986 2,015 16,976 282 19,273
1987 2,286 20,532 480 23,298
1988 2,563 27,478 200 30,241
1989 2,557 29,998 201 32,756
1990 2,458 30,112 259 32,829
1991 2,330 27,693 159 30,182
1992 2,992 31,355 226 34,573
1993 2,919 30,650 180 33,749
1994 2,969 30,411 282 33,662
1995 3,107 29,314 452 32,873
1996 3,266 28,983 413 32,662
1997 3,349 32,596 432 36,377
1998 2,109 23,728 534 26,371
1999 1,879 17,532 688 20,099
20002 1,723 14,845 419 16,987
1 Faecal and other reports, excluding S.typhi and S.paratyphi
2 Data for 2000 remains provisional

Sources:

Scotland data are laboratory reports to the Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH) of Salmonella in humans in Scotland, 1970–2000

England and Wales data is from the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS). The Salmonella data for 1970 to 1980 differ from 1981 onwards as follows:

1. The pre-1981 data are paper records whereas data for 1981 onwards have been computerised and published on the PHLS website;

2. The pre-1981 data include all human isolates whereas the data from 1981 onwards are for faecal isolates only;

3. The pre-1981 data include more than one report for some patients whereas the data for 1981 onwards have had duplication removed so that there is only one report for each patient.

4. Data for 1981–91 is from Laboratory of Enteric Pathogens (LEP) (formerly DEP). Data for 1992 onwards is from the PHLS Salmonella datasheet.

Northern Ireland data are from the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre, Northern Ireland

Table 3 sets out the annual corrected notifications of deaths related to Salmonella infections (other than S.typhi and S.paratyphi), reported to the Office for National Statistics in England and Wales and the General Register Offices in Scotland and Northern Ireland in each year from 1970 to 1999.

Table 3: Salmonella associated deaths in the UK, 1970–991 (ICD-003)2
Year Scotland England and Wales Northern Ireland Total UK reports
1970 3 28 3 34
1971 3 34 0 37
1972 1 25 0 26
1973 3 37 1 41
1974 3 29 0 32
1975 6 45 2 53
1976 7 39 1 47
1977 7 34 3 44
1978 2 38 0 40
1979 6 48 0 54
1980 3 37 1 41
1981 9 34 0 43
1982 8 65 1 74
1983 5 49 0 54
1984 6 54 2 62
1985 4 49 0 53
1986 2 40 0 42
1987 1 52 2 55
1988 3 58 2 63
1989 3 61 0 64
1990 1 68 1 70
1991 4 62 0 66
1992 3 59 0 62
1993 2 35 0 37
1994 1 40 0 41
1995 2 36 1 39
1996 2 49 0 51
1997 1 44 0 45
1998 5 21 0 26
1999 4 25 0 29
1 Data for 1999 are provisional
2 Annual corrected notifications ICD-003 ('Salmonella Other') Salmonella related deaths excluding Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi

Sources:

England and Wales: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Scotland: General Register Office Scotland (GROS) Northern Ireland: General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI)

ICD-003: International Classification of Diseases (ICD) category for 'Salmonella Other' these infections exclude Salmonella typhi and Salmonella paratyphi