§ Mr. RedmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will list by month for the last 12 months the number of cases of dysentry that have been confirmed in the United Kingdom, the locations of the outbreaks and the cause of the outbreaks.
§ Mr. DorrellIn the year 1991 to week 49, there have been community outbreaks of dysentry in the following towns and cities in England and Wales: Grimsby; Manchester; Leeds; Bradford; Hull; Scunthorpe; Halifax; Huddersfield; Cardiff; Bristol; Darlington; Easington; Carmarthen; Haverfordwest; Gainsborough; Sheffield; Doncaster; Birmingham.
The PHLS communicable disease surveillance centre has received 9,006 reports of isolations of shigella sonnei, the main causative organisms for dysentry in this country, from laboratories in England and Wales in 1991. They are as listed in the table, with weeks 49 to 52 of 1990 included to complete a 12-month period.
Weeks Total 1990 49–52 314 1991 1–4 367 5–8 237 9–12 417 13–16 707 17–20 821 21–24 806 25–28 905 29–32 947 33–36 449 37–40 504 41–44 970 45–48 1,471 Information relating to Scotland and Northern Ireland is the responsibility of my right hon. Friends the Secretaries of State for Scotland and Northern Ireland.