§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what is his estimate of the cost to public funds of the medical attention and treatment given by the National Health Service to victims of food poisoning attributable to chicken and eggs.
§ Mr. Kenneth Clarke[holding answer 30 January 1989]: The costs to public funds in 1988 of medical attention and treatment given by the NHS to victims of food poisoning attributable to chicken and eggs—predominantly from salmonella enteritidis, phage type 4—are estimated at about £2 million. This figure is based on estimates of costs of medical attention and treatment for salmonellosis in hospitals or the community calculated in 1985 as part of a special PHLS study, but adjusted for inflation, and applied to reported cases of infection of salmonella enteritidis phage types 4, 8 and 33 in 1988.
854W