You asked
Could you please inform me how the figures for "Deaths Due to Influenza and Pneumonia" are calculated on your weekly Death Register?
In previous years where Influenza and pneumonia were registered as the underlying cause it was accepted death was due to Influenza and/or Pneumonia. Now it appears that this is not the case. For what reason was this changed please?
Your dataset website (2020 spreadsheet) shows "Deaths where the underlying cause was respiratory disease (ICD-10 J00-J99)". This does not appear to reflect the figures shown on your weekly death register "Deaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia". For example (week 45) 996 on dataset but 307 on weekly death register.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Deaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia include deaths where Influenza and Pneumonia was the underlying cause of death, as listed on the death certificate. The latest publication of Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales includes the number of deaths where, in line with the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition (ICD-10) definitions, Influenza and Pneumonia (J09 to J18) was a contributing factor to death and where a death was due this cause. Please see Figure 2 in this publication for this information.
The Deaths registered weekly in England and Wales dataset includes figures for deaths where the underlying cause was respiratory disease, with ICD-10 codes J00-J99. Therefore, these numbers include more deaths than deaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia (J09-J18), as they include other respiratory diseases as well.
If you would like to discuss these figures further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.