§ Miss McIntoshTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what was the incidence of(a) autism and (b) Crohn's disease among children aged (i) 18 months and (ii) three years in (1) 1987, (2) April 1992 and (3) April 2000; and if he will make a statement. [149626]
§ Mr. DenhamAutism is rarely diagnosed in children as young as 18 months. An estimated prevalence rate of classic autism of between four and five per 10,000 population is widely accepted. Prevalence of all autistic spectrum disorders is more difficult to estimate but could be as high as 91 per 10,000. These figures would imply that, in England in 1999, between 250 and 300 children of three years of age were affected by classic autism and that up to 5,500 children may have been affected by autistic spectrum disorders.
The incidence of Crohn's disease in childhood in the United Kingdom is not currently known. The disease is likely to be underdiagnosed in very young children, who cannot express specific symptoms as adults do.