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Clostridium: Death

Answer

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 25 October 2007:"The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) people and (b) people under the age of (i) one and (ii) five died from (A) clostridium difficile and (B) MRS A infection in each year since 1997 to 2006. I am replying in her absence. (160268)""Special analyses of deaths in England and Wales involving Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) and MRSA are undertaken annually by ONS and results are published in Health Statistics Quarterly. The latest year for which figures are available is 2005.""The tables below present the numbers of deaths where C. difficile and MRSA were mentioned on death certificates and where they were the underlying cause of death. Data for 1997, 1998, and 2000 are not available for C. difficile (see background note 1)."

Table 1: Number of death certificates with clostridium. difficile¹ mentioned and as the underlying cause of death, England and Wales, 1999 and 2001-05²
	Mentions	Underlying cause³
	All ages	Age under one year	Age under five years4	All ages	Age under one year	Age under five years4
1999	975	0	0	531	0	0
2000	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a
2001	1,214	0	0	691	0	0
2002	1,428	0	0	756	0	0
2003	1,788	1	1	958	1	1
2004	2,247	0	1	1,245	0	0
2005	3,807	0	1	2,074	0	1
n/a = Not available
¹ Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics (2006) report: Deaths involving clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 1999-2004. Health Statistics Quarterly 30, 56-60.
² Deaths registered in 1999, deaths occurring in 2001-05.
³ Excludes neonatal deaths (aged under 28 days)
4 Total for under five years includes deaths under one year of age.

Table 2: Number of death certificates with MRSA¹ mentioned and as the underlying cause of death, England and Wales, 1997-2005²
	Mentions	Underlying cause³
	All ages	Age under one year	Age under five years4	All ages	Age under one year	Age under five years4
1997	389	1	1	102	0	0
1998	412	3	4	118	2	2
1999	487	0	1	126	0	0
2000	669	0	0	195	0	0
2001	734	1	1	254	0	0
2002	800	0	1	248	0	0
2003	955	2	2	321	0	0
2004	1,168	1	1	360	0	0
2005	1,629	6	6	467	2	2
¹ Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004) Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993-2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15-22.
² Deaths occurring in 1997-2005.
³ Excludes neonatal deaths (aged under 28 days).
4 Total for under five years includes deaths under one year of age.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

160268; 465 c572-3W

Session

2006-07

Subjects

Death MRSA Clostridium

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk