Vol. 488 No. 2
118 Ms Clune asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the virus reference laboratory in UCD is reporting a 30 per cent increase of hepatitis B in blood samples tested; the action, if any, his Department will take on the basis of this finding; and if he will convey this information to members of the National Immunisation Committee. [6024/98]
145 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the virus reference laboratory in UCD is reporting a 30 per cent increase in hepatitis B in blood samples tested; the action, if any, his Department will take on the basis of this finding; and if his Department will convey this information to members of the National Immunisation Committee. [5892/98]
152 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Health and Children if his attention has been drawn to the fact that the virus reference laboratory in UCD is reporting a 30 per cent increase of hepatitis B in blood samples tested; the action, if any, his Department will take on the basis of this finding; and if this information will be communicated by his Department to members of the National Immunisation Committee. [5908/98]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 118, 145 and 152 together.
The virus reference laboratory has indicated that the number of new cases of hepatitis B identified by the laboratory in 1997 was 159. The corresponding figure for 1996 was 110 cases.
Future vaccination strategy against hepatitis B is among the issues which my Department's chief medical officer has asked the Immunisation Advisory Committee of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland to consider in the course of its review of the existing guidelines. I have arranged for the information provided by the virus reference laboratory to be brought to the committee's attention through my Department's representative on the committee.
