§ Dr. Roger Thomasasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will make a statement as to the incidence of both hepatitis A and B in the various regions of England, giving quarterly figures if possible over the past two years; and if he will comment upon the distribution regionally and with respect to time.
§ Sir George YoungNotifications of infective jaundice for 1979 and the first two quarters of 1980, the latest figures available, are shown in table 1: These figures relate to all forms of infective jaundice; hepatitis A, hepatitis B and infections due to other agents cannot be separately identified.
Table 1 Notification of Infective Jaundice 1979 1980 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1st quarter 2nd quarter Northern 31 34 25 17 27 31 Yorkshire and Humberside 95 84 83 108 116 177 East Midlands 85 68 48 112 104 104 East Anglia 20 7 22 39 20 38 South-East 332 321 399 356 449 587 South-West 59 38 54 62 89 59 West Midlands 46 51 78 67 85 66 North-West Midlands 95 104 110 107 121 146
Table 2 Hepatitis A Infection 1979 1980 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1st quarter 2nd quarter Northern 2 2 — — 4 — Yorkshire 16 4 8 13 20 25 Trent 8 2 1 7 19 8 East Anglia — — 2 8 3 17 North-West Thames 10 15 4 18 23 24 North-East Thames 6 4 4 14 17 13 South-East Thames 15 5 3 13 18 22 South-West Thames 17 6 7 6 8 4 Wessex — 1 — — 3 4 Oxford 9 7 7 12 11 4 South-Western — 1 — 1 7 7 West Midlands 15 11 17 23 21 43 Mersey — — — 1 3 1 North Western 5 1 1 2 5 17 380W
Table 3 Hepatitis B Infection 1979 1980 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1st quarter 2nd quarter Northern 6 4 5 6 5 3 Yorkshire 22 26 34 33 25 50 Trent 50 48 38 44 37 50 East Anglia 12 9 14 15 15 17 North-West Thames 109 92 147 113 141 122 North-East Thames 41 41 40 21 39 40 South-East Thames 120 148 126 113 152 112 South-West Thames 51 36 54 46 56 34 Wessex 30 45 49 54 41 40 Oxford 20 22 20 27 19 29 South-Western 42 44 54 43 48 25 Notification is probably incomplete and the extent to which it is complete may vary between regions making valid inter-regional comparison difficult. As notifications are made to local authorities, comparison with Public Health Laboratory Service and NHS data cannot readily be made.
Some additional information is available from blood tests carried out by the PHLS. This relates only to blood tests which the laboratories are asked to perform and is by no means comprehensive. It may also include blood tests on people who turn out to be carriers but who may not be clinically jaundiced or ill. PHLS data provide only a general indication of trends by NHS regions but they do provide separate information as to hepatitis A and B (tables 2 and 3 below).
381W
1979 1980 1st quarter 2nd quarter 3rd quarter 4th quarter 1st quarter 2nd quarter West Midlands 123 109 131 116 144 123 Mersey 33 23 26 23 46 27 North-Western 25 45 54 41 48 67