The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 27 January 2010:
As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking in how many cases (a) staphylococcus aureus, (b) meticillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus and (c) Clostridium difficile has been mentioned on death certificates in each region in each year since 1997. (313937)
The tables attached provide the number of deaths where (a) Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) (Table 1), (b) meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (Table 2) and (c) Clostridium difficile (C difficile) (Table 3) was mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, either as the underlying cause or as a contributory factor, in each government office region in England, for the years 1997 to 2008 (the latest year available). Figures for 1997, 1998 and 2000 are not available for Table 3.
Although Staphylococcus aureus, meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Clostridium difficile are defined by the Health Protection Agency as healthcare associated infections, it is not possible to state whether the deceased was a patient at the time of death, or where the infection was acquired.
Deaths (persons) Government office region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 North East 38 32 32 47 47 51 84 95 100 104 106 102 North West 95 119 98 126 126 141 173 168 237 236 239 194 Yorkshire and The Humber 54 68 85 94 114 111 127 163 197 168 170 139 East Midlands 61 74 74 76 103 91 119 131 148 181 153 129 West Midlands 92 103 120 141 126 134 132 156 241 246 249 178 East of England 87 85 99 112 122 124 152 177 196 241 248 129 London 108 101 132 135 153 147 153 179 225 257 227 159 South East 118 126 156 204 208 203 226 256 348 359 297 205 South West 68 91 94 118 131 137 157 189 268 233 252 160 1 Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics: Report: Deaths involving MRSA; England and Wales, 2008. Health Statistics Quarterly 43, 38-42 2 Based on boundaries as of 2009 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year
Deaths (persons) Government office region 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 North East 11 15 13 23 31 35 56 68 78 82 85 88 North West 43 60 48 62 55 78 112 120 184 174 199 171 Yorkshire and The Humber 29 30 40 45 64 77 79 114 150 126 130 105 East Midlands 19 28 36 44 66 50 76 86 116 136 116 98 West Midlands 48 50 64 81 78 82 93 108 203 183 202 147 East of England 49 35 49 68 81 83 100 129 143 187 192 105 London 55 47 58 84 90 100 107 130 187 189 174 133 South East 61 64 73 131 137 141 171 179 258 292 224 167 South West 38 42 48 67 79 90 108 135 217 187 195 123 1 Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics: Report: Deaths involving MRSA; England and Wales, 2008. Health Statistics Quarterly 43, 38-42. 2 Based on boundaries as of 2009. 3 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.
Deaths (persons) Government office region 1999 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 North East 54 65 76 103 129 222 207 328 347 North West 134 157 174 220 271 334 513 1010 980 Yorkshire and The Humber 60 87 114 117 153 181 267 510 486 East Midlands 63 66 65 95 137 411 917 823 502 West Midlands 86 121 140 225 283 534 1115 1255 771 East of England 82 144 187 230 246 395 748 1035 465 London 138 188 209 223 238 529 756 1001 534 South East 164 171 206 312 338 507 1016 1080 750 South West 137 150 154 195 351 535 762 874 630 1 Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics: Report: Deaths involving Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 2008. Health Statistics Quarterly 43, 43-47. 2 All deaths in England and Wales are coded by the Office for National Statistics according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The Tenth Revision (ICD-10) has been used since 2001. In the Ninth Revision of the ICD (ICD-9) there are no specific codes that would allow deaths mentioning Clostridium difficile to be easily identified. Figures for 1998 and 2000 are therefore not available as ICD-9 was used in these years. Deaths registered in 1999 were coded to both ICD-9 and ICD-10 as part of a special study to compare the two ICD revisions, and have therefore been used to give an additional year of data on deaths involving Clostridium difficle. 3 Based on boundaries as of 2009. 4 Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year.