HC Deb 10 December 1993 vol 234 c391W
Ms Primarolo

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of(a) dysentery, (b) typhoid, (c) paratyphoid, (d) malaria, (e) TB and (f) jaundice were reported for England and Wales in each year since 1988.

Mr. Sackville

The information is shown in the table.

Notifications of selected infectious diseases reported in England and Wales 1988–92
Disease 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992
Dysentery 3,692 3,278 2,756 9,935 16,960
Typhoid 174 164 178 182 201
Paratyphoid 180 88 93 99 81
Malaria 1,271 1,478 1,493 1,553 1,189
Tuberculosis 5,164 5,432 5,204 5,436 5,799
Viral hepatitis1 5,063 7,071 9,005 8,860 8,993
1 Infective jaundice was redesignated viral hepatitis on 1 October 1988.

The rise in notifications of viral hepatitis seen between 1988 and 1990 was due to increased notifications of hepatitis A infection. This rise was consistent with the regular peaks in incidence of hepatitis A seen every seven to nine years.

The rise in notification of dysentery in 1992 was seen in all major conurbations other than London. Trends in dysentery also exhibit a periodicity, with peaks every seven to eight years, although the peak in 1992 was higher than other peaks in the previous two decades.