FOI Reference: FOI 2022/3522
You asked
Please could you send me worldwide virus statistics including all current viruses?
Please understand I want to know per capita information on all current virus infection not COVID-19 only per country?
We said
Thank you for your request.
The Office for National Statistics COVID-19 Infection Survey (CIS) is a household survey that estimates the number of people testing positive for infection and for antibodies in the UK. Our statistics refer to the number of current COVID-19 infections within the population living in private residential households. We exclude those in hospitals, care homes and/or other communal establishments. In communal establishments, rates of COVID-19 infection are likely to be different. On our website are also statistics on the characteristics of those testing positive.
You can find estimates of the percentage of people testing positive for coronavirus (COVID-19) in England, Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Infection Survey bulletin and accompanying datasets.
Further information on COVID-19, influenza, and other seasonal respiratory viruses in England is available from UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA, previously Public Health England) National flu and COVID-19 surveillance reports. For more information about this data, you can contact UKHSA via email at informationrights@ukhsa.gov.uk. The World Health Organisation may also be able to assist with worldwide enquiries.
Further information and an overview of data about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and other sources can be found in our Coronavirus (COVID-19) latest insights tool.
If you are interested in mortality information in England and Wales regarding viruses, we can provide the following:
Our mortality data comes from the information collected at death registration. All the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10). From all of these causes an underlying cause of death is selected using ICD-10 coding rules.
The underlying cause of death is defined by WHO as:
a) the disease or injury that initiated the train of events directly leading to death, or\ b) the circumstances of the accident or violence that produced the fatal injury
There are numerous ICD-10 codes attributed to viral infections which can be found in the ICD-10 coding manual. Some common ICD-10 codes are listed below but this list is not exhaustive:
- U07.1 and U07.2 - COVID-19
- J09 - J11 - Influenza
- B15 - B19 Viral Hepatitis
- B05 - Measles
- B01 - Varicella (Chickenpox)
- B00 - Herpes
- A87 - Viral Meningitis
Using our NOMIS webservice, you can then extract deaths by these specific ICD-10 codes. Data is available from 2013 to 2020.
Select the geography (England and Wales, regional or by local authority).
Select Age - All ages or 5-year age bands.
Select Gender - Total or Male/Female
Select rates - All deaths, rates or percentage of population for example.
Select cause of death (ICD10 code search is available).
Select format (Excel or CSV for example)
If you would like to request 2021 data, this can be done using our bespoke request service. This would be based on provisional data and subject to change. Please note this would not include worldwide virus statistics, only England and Wales. 2021 data will be available in NOMIS in July 2022, this is to allow the inclusion of late registrations which are typically deaths that have been referred to the coroner for investigation.
Special extracts and tabulations of mortality data for England and Wales are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate).
Such enquiries would fall outside of the Freedom of Information regime and should be made to: Health.Data@ons.gov.uk.