§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if the Chief Medical Officer of Scotland issued any guidance to other health boards arising out of the outbreak of meningitis in Lanarkshire in the last year.
§ Mr. John MacKayNo.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether any medical sources have made representations to him regarding the outbreak of meningitis in Lanarkshire in the last year.
§ Mr. John MacKayNo.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he has received any reports from Lanarkshire 62W health board regarding the outbreak of meningitis in Lanarkshire in 1984 and 1985; and if there were any indications that the outbreak involved the communication of the disease by any carrier whether human or otherwise.
§ Mr. John MacKayLanarkshire health board prepared a report on the outbreak and this has been submitted to the Scottish Home and Health Department. This report does not identify the cause of the increased incidence of meningitis in the Lanarkshire health board area during this period.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if his Department issued any advice or instructions to the Lanarkshire health board regarding the outbreak of meningitis in 1984 and 1985; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. John MacKayAlthough the Scottish Home and Health Department did not offer any advice to Lanarkshire health board, the board had appropriate advice from its own medical specialists and from the directors of the communicable diseases (Scotland) unit and the Meningococcus reference laboratory (Scotland) at Ruchill hospital, Glasgow.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland what inquiries were undertaken by his Department into the outbreak of meningitis in the Lanarkshire area this and last year.
§ Mr. John MacKayMy professional advisers were satisfied that Lanarkshire health board took appropriate action to control the disease, and it was not considered necessary for the Scottish Home and Health Department to undertake any further inquiries into this outbreak.
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many notifications of meningitis have been made in the last four months; if any of them have led to death; and, of them, how many occurred in the Lanarkshire health board area.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe information is as follows:
Scotland Lanarkshire Health Board area 1. Number of notifications of meningitis in the period 29 June-1 November 1985 35 7 2. Number of death in the period 1 July-19 October 1985 (provisional) 4 1
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many deaths from meningitis, by health board areas, have been notified in each of the last five years.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe information is as follows:
63W
Deaths from meningitis by health board area, 1980–1984 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Borders — — — 1 — Forth Valley 3 1 1 — 1 Dumfries & Galloway 1 2 1 2 — Fife — — 2 1 — Grampian 2 2 — 1 4 Highland 1 1 — 1 2 Lothian 5 7 3 5 5
1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Argyll & Clyde 3 2 1 10 — Ayrshire & Arran 2 3 1 2 5 Greater Glasgow 7 5 7 3 5 Lanarkshire 10 3 6 5 2 Tayside 2 1 3 4 1 Orkney Islands — — — — — Western Islands — — — — — Scotland 36 27 25 35 25
§ Mr. George Robertsonasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many cases of meningitis have been reported in Scotland in the last 12-month period available; how that compares with the previous 12-month period; and, of them, how many were in the area of the Lanarkshire health board.
§ Mr. John MacKayThe information is as follows:
Scotland Lanarkshire Health Board 1. Number of notifications of meningitis for year ending 2 November 1984 198 16 2. Number of notificaions of meningitis for year ending 1 November 1985 146 40