§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by year for the last five years by district health authority the number of cases of leptospirosis, Weil's disease, that have been reported; how many were fatal; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. FreemanCases of infectious diseases are notified by the doctor in attendance to the proper officer for each local authority area. Notifications of leptospirosis are therefore not generally available at the district health authority level. However, the table shows the number of notifications of leptospirosis (including Weil's disease) for regional health authorities for the latest five years available. Evidence from the identifications of the disease by the public health laboratory service indicates that there is undernotification and that perhaps only about one in three cases is formally notified. Also given are the number of deaths registered with underlying cause of death assigned as leptospirosis for RHA of usual residence. From the registration of the death alone, it is not possible to determine whether the case had been formally notified.
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Numbers of (a) notifications of and (b) deaths registered withunderlying cause as: Leptospirosis (including Weil's disease) ICD (9)1 100 Regional Health Authority 1983–1987 1983 1984 1985 1986 21987 (a) Notifications RHA Area of notification Northern — — 3 1 2
1983 1984 1985 1986 21987 Yorkshire 1 — 2 1 2 Trent 4 3 2 1 3 East Anglian 1 2 2 — 1 North West Thames 2 — 3 2 2 North East Thames — — 1 2 1 South East Thames 2 — — — — South West Thames 2 1 — 1 1 Wessex 1 2 1 2 5 Oxford 2 1 1 1 — South Western 2 5 5 8 2 West Midlands 1 2 2 1 2 Mersey — — 1 — 2 North Western 2 2 3 1 2 (b) Deaths RHA of usual residence Northern — — — — — Yorkshire — — — — — Trent — — — 1 — East Anglian — — — — — North West Thames — — — — North East Thames 1 — — — 1 South East Thames — — — — — South West Thames — — — — — Wessex — — — — — Oxford — — — — — South Western — — 1 — — West Midlands — — 1 — — Mersey — — — — — North Western — — — — — 1International Classification of Diseases 9th Revision. 2Provisional. Note: Figures for deaths from 1986 exculde those at age under 28 days.