§ Mr. RogersTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of multi-drug-resistant TB have been diagnosed in each of the last five years. [7967]
§ Mr. HoramIn 1992, the Public Health Laboratory Service carried out a review of the occurrence of drug resistance in cases of tuberculosis in England and Wales between 1982 and 1991. The review was published in 1993. In 1993, an enhanced surveillance system—the United Kingdom mycobacterial resistance network, MYCOBNET—was established by the PHLS communicable disease surveillance centre to monitor drug resistance in isolates of mycobacterium tuberculosis. Data from the review and the MYCOBNET system are as listed. Direct comparison between the numbers of multi-drug resistant isolates identified during the two periods is not possible because of the different methods used to obtain the information. Multi-drug resistant cases account for around 1 per cent. of notified cases of tuberculosis.
Initial isolates of multi-drug resistant1 Mycobacterium tuberculosis in England and Wales, 1990–1995 Year Number of multi-drug resistant isolates 1990 8 1991 14 Data from PHLS review published in 1993. 1 Resistant to isoniazid and rifiampicin with or without resistance to other drugs.
Data from MYCOBNET system: Year Number of multi-drug resistant isolates 1993 18 1994 42 1995 56