§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many cases of tuberculosis there were in(a) the constituency of Hereford, and (b) nationwide, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [112433]
§ Yvette CooperThe available information from the Public Health Laboratory Service is given in the table. Notifications data are collected by local authority and are not routinely available by health authority. Data are not available by constituency. The final data for 1999 are not yet available and data for the five years up to 1998 are provided.756W
Notifications of tuberculosis 1994–98 Year Hereford Local Authority England and Wales 1994 0 5,590 1995 1 5,606 1996 1 5,654 1997 1 5,859 1998 2 6,087 Source:
NOIDS database, CDSC, 2 March 2000
The United Kingdom has an excellent record of tuberculosis control and notifications have reached the relatively low levels of around 6,500 cases a year from nearly 50,000 in 1950. This success is against a recent worldwide resurgence in tuberculosis that is having a small but important impact on trends in the United Kingdom, as a result we have recently seen small annual increases in the incidence of tuberculosis.
To combat these increases we have taken steps to strengthen the surveillance, prevention and control of tuberculosis, including drug resistant tuberculosis within the United Kingdom. Recent developments include:
the commencement of work on ongoing enhanced surveillance of tuberculosis to improve monitoring;the appointment of Regional Epidemiologists to help towards a more co-ordinated approach to surveillance;the strengthening of surveillance of drug and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis through a scheme co-ordinated by the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS);the development—by the PHLS—and availability of more rapid diagnostic and drug susceptibility tests for tuberculosis, which can be used where there is a presence of risk factors which might predispose towards multidrug-resistant tuberculosis;the co-ordination of the PHLS's activities through the new Tuberculosis Programme.
§ Mr. KeetchTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many children in Hereford have(a) had and (b) not had the BCG test and vaccination at the usual age in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [112432]
§ Yvette CooperInformation about the number of children in Hereford Health Authority who have received the tuberculin test and BCG vaccination to protect against tuberculosis is contained in the table together with resident population estimates for children.
757W
Herefordshire Health Authority: tuberculin tests and BCG vaccinations, and number of children resident by age group Number of skin tests Found positive Found negative Number of vaccinations Number of children resident1 Children under one-year-old 1994–95 0 0 1 2,000 1995–96 0 0 9 1,900 1996–97 0 6 9 1,800 1997–98 2 0 2 1,800 1998–99 0 5 5 1,900
Herefordshire Health Authority: tuberculin tests and BCG vaccinations, and number of children resident by age group Number of skin tests Found positive Found negative Number of vaccinations Number of children resident1 Children 10 to 15-years-old 1994–95 104 1,637 1,693 2,000 1995–96 91 1,554 1,621 2,000 1996–97 98 1,527 1,631 2,000 1997–98 160 1,636 1,837 2,000 1998–99 158 1,491 1,673 2,100 1 Mid-year resident population estimates; figures for 10–15 age group are averages for a single year cohort, calculated as 1/6 of the total resident population aged 10–15 years. Note:
Neonatal BCG immunisation is recommended only in children born in higher risk groups; infants under three months of age do not require prior skin testing.
Source:
KC50
Department of Health: Statistics Division SD2B
Because of severe manufacturing problems at Medeva Pharma, the only licensed United Kingdom supplier, supply of BCG and Tuberculin PPD vaccines continues to be disrupted. Stocks being received are insufficient to support the United Kingdom's full immunisation programme and the Department has had no alternative other than to suspend the routine BCG immunisation in schools for children aged 10–14 until continuity of vaccine supply can be guaranteed. Vaccine is being issued, therefore, to immunise people in higher risk categories only, such as neonates at higher risk, contacts of cases, new immigrants and healthcare workers.
The Department is actively seeking alternative supplies of BCG vaccine in consultation with the World Health Organisation.