Question reference: S3W-35649
- Asked by: Cathy Peattie, MSP for Falkirk East, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 6 August 2010
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Current status: Answered by Shona Robison on 1 September 2010
Question
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) deaths and (b) group B streptococcal infections were recorded in neonates in each of the last three years, also broken down by rates per live birth.
Answer
(a) The number of neonatal deaths and rates per 1,000 live births are published annually by the General Register Office for Scotland (GROS) and can be accessed via the following link:
GROS have also confirmed the number of neonatal deaths for which group B streptococcus or group B streptococcal was mentioned on the death certificate to be as follows:
| Year | Cause of Death | |
| Underlying | Contributory | |
| 2007 | 1 | 1 |
| 2008 | 2 | 0 |
| 2009 | 2 | 2 |
(b) Health Protection Scotland (HPS) have confirmed the number of group B streptococcal infections recorded in neonates in each of the last three years, as detailed in the following table. HPS also advise that any apparent variation in data should be interpreted with caution, given improvements in the reporting of these infections over recent years.
| Year
| Number of Group B Streptococcal Infection Reports in Neonates | Rate per 1,000 Live Births |
| 2007 | 148 | 2.6 |
| 2008 | 240 | 4.0 |
| 2009 | 322 | 5.5 |