§ Andrew MackinlayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what change there has been in the rate of death certificates showing methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus and related diseases as a cause of death since 29 March 2001. [92734]
§ Ms BlearsInformation concerning methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on death certificates is not currently available from routine mortality statistics and has to be obtained by special research studies. The latest available figures for England and Wales cover 1993 to 1998 and were published in the British Medical Journal in December 2002.
April 2001 saw the introduction of national mandatory surveillance of MRSA blood stream infections. The results for the first year of this scheme for every NHS Acute Trust in England were published in the Communicable Disease Report (CDR) Weekly on 20 June 2002. These data are available on the Public Health Laboratory Service's website www.phls.co.uk/publications/cdr/PDFfiles/2002/cdr2502.pdf.