1 in every 15 deaths is caused by infection

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20th December 2001 1 in every 15 deaths is caused by infection A new report published by the PHLS highlights the huge impact which infectious diseases have in England and Wales every year. Estimates indicate that: ?span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> At least 1 in 15 deaths every year is due to infection, and a similar number of hospital admissions are attributable to infectious disease. ?span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> 40% of new consultations with family doctors are for an infectious disease. ?span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> 1 in 5 people each year suffers a gut infection. These figures are reported in the 1999-2000 Review of Communicable Diseases which is published by the Public Health Laboratory Service. Dr Angus Nicoll, Director of the PHLS Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre which prepared the report, said, "History shows that we ignore the threat posed by infectious disease at our peril - there is never any cause for complacency. "One of the key themes highlighted in this new report is that infections affect different social groups disproportionately, and so it is vital that we develop prevention strategies for those who are most at risk. For a number of important diseases we must ensure that the very young, teenagers, the old, minority ethnic groups and less affluent groups in society have ready access to good medical services. We cannot always make inequalities go away, but we can make sure that medical services are responsive to the needs of different groups. "Already, 40% of new consultations with family doctors are for infectious disease. We know that some infections, like TB, which were previously declining, are now re-emerging - TB has increased by 10% since 1998. At the same time, we have recognised completely new infections over the last 20 years, such as HIV, E.coli O157 or hepatitis C, and these pose new challenges for the future. "Alongside this, the public rightly demands that we are ready to respond to new threats like rising levels of sexually-transmitted infections, the problem of hospital-acquired infection and now the new threat of bioterrorism which has become a reality in the USA . We look forward to the Chief Medical Officer's new Communicable Disease Strategy which will provide the context in which we address these challenges over the coming years." The report also reviews other trends in infection over the 1999-2000 period: ?span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> Immunisation continues to be a vital tool in tackling infection. The new vaccine against group C meningococcal disease has had a huge impact on levels of the infection. The introduction of the vaccine was featured by the National Audit Office as one of four exemplary programmes in its 2001 report on public spending. Routine immunisation is a particularly valuable intervention because it can be made available to everybody, and so can help to reduce or even eliminate the impact of social inequalities for measles, whooping cough and meningitis etc. ?span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> Hepatitis - hepatitis continues to pose problems. Over the last decade, there have been outbreaks of hepatitis A in gay and bisexual men, and also in deprived communities. Hepatitis B is an increasing problem amongst injecting drug-users, and future prevention activities need to focus in particular on this group. Numbers of new diagnoses of hepatitis C continue to increase, although this increase may reflect improvements in diagnosis and awareness. ?span style="mso-tab-count: 1"> Hospital-acquired infection - in 1991, just 2% of bloodstream infections with Staphylococcus aureus were caused by methicillin-resistant strains (MRSA). By 2000, this figure has risen to over 40%, highlighting the fact that MRSA is now a significant issue for all hospitals. The development of new treatments, the careful use of antibiotics, and good infection control will all be central to tackling MRSA and other hospital-acquired infections. -ends- Data and information on infectious disease can be found on the PHLS website athttp://www.phls.co.uk A special web version of the report will be published on the PHLS website on Friday 21st December. Full printed versions will be available in 2002. The PHLS is reliant on many microbiologists, clinicians and their staff throughout the NHS who contribute notifications of infectious disease, and who participate in voluntary and confidential reporting of infections. Without these data we would have a much less complete picture of infection in England and Wales. In addition, the PHLS is grateful to the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health for their valuable contributions. For more information please contact the PHLS press office on 020 8358 3004.