§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many died as a result of infection with the hepatitis C virus in the NHS for(a) 1992, (b) 1993, and (c) 1994. [16583]
§ Mr. SackvilleThe current international classification of diseases, 9th revision, does not allow us separately to identify the hepatitis C virus.
§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people currently have the hepatitis C virus in the United Kingdom. [16585]
§ Mr. SackvilleThere have been no large population seroprevalence studies in the United Kingdom which could give precise estimates of the numbers infected.
Small studies in transfusion centres at the time of introducing HCV testing estimated the prevalence in blood donors to be 0.06 per cent. This would be an underestimate of the numbers in the United Kingdom population as a whole because the group at most risk of infection, those who have injected drugs, are asked to self-defer from blood donation. There is evidence to suggest that perhaps between 50 and 80 per cent. of intravenous drug users have been infected with hepatitis C. Rates vary with geographical area.
§ Mr. Alex CarlileTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people with haemophilia died as a result of infection with the hepatitis C virus in the NHS in(a) 1992, (b) 1993 and (c) 1994. [16630]
§ Mr. SackvilleWe understand from the United Kingdom haemophilia directors that, of 119 haemophilia patients known to have died in 1992, 10 showed the cause of death as liver disease of which hepatitis C may have been the cause. In respect of the 1993 figures, I refer the hon. and learned Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for Liverpool, Mossley Hill (Mr. Alton) on 1 December 1994, column830. I understand that figures for 1994 are not yet available.