§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many children in each year since 1981 completed courses of vaccination with the following vaccines or combination of vaccines: (a) pertussis/diphtheria/tetanus (triple), (b) triple/polio, (c) triple/smallpox, (d) triple/measles, (e) triple/polio/smallpox, (f) pertussis, (g) pertussis/polio, (h) pertussis/diphtheria/polio, (i) pertussis/polio/tetanus, (j) pertussis/diphtheria/rubella and (k) pertussis/diphtheria.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information available is as follows:
Number of children under 16 completing primary courses of immunisation (England) 1981 1982 1983 1984 Pertussis/Diphtheria/Tetanus (triple) 318,452 358,064 382,182 387,659
546W
Number of cases on in-patient waiting list for admission to NHS hospitals at 31 March—Portsmouth and South East Hampshire district health authority Specialty 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 General medicine 10 14 10 12 — 39 Dermatology 18 33 32 30 26 22 Rheumatology 12 13 17 8 16 6 Geriatrics 57 44 32 39 35 10 General surgery 1,272 924 1,311 1,322 1,412 1,771 Ear, nose and throat 1,582 1,768 1,680 1,483 1,551 1,314 Trau. and orth. 1,517 1,169 1,193 1,130 992 1,157 Ophthalmology 635 474 463 446 428 363 Radiotherapy 3 7 10 5 — 12 Urology 1,042 1,058 688 968 952 992 Thoracic surgery — — 2 — — — Oral surgery 149 160 170 188 376 472 Gynaecology 1,096 605 705 1,146 1,093 1,030 Mental handicap 59 57 — — — — Total 7,452 6,326 6,313 6,777 6,881 7,188
1981 1982 1983 1984 Pertussis 1,775 26,603 23,182 3,744 Pertussis/Diphtheria 260 155 167 216 Information is not held centrally on the other combinations quoted. It is recommended that children receive oral polio vaccine at the same time as the triple vaccine. Numbers for oral polio were:
1981 1982 1983 1984 554,342 559,782 526,407 526,092 Smallpox vaccination has not formed part of the United Kingdom immunisation recommendations since 1981.
§ Mr. Ashleyasked the Secretary of State for Social Services how many vaccine-damage payments have been awarded for damage from a vaccine which according to the parents' recollection included a pertussis element in each year since 1981; and if he will give the total number of payments in each of these years.
§ Mr. WhitneyThe information, up to 8 November 1985, the latest date for which figures are available, is as follows:
Number of awards made in which vaccination was stated by claimant to include a pertussis element Year Number Total awards 1981 62 74 1982 30 43 1983 31 42 1984 24 29 1985 19 23 Total 166 211