You asked
I would like the number of deaths by flu per annum since 2000. Per area please.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We are responsible for the provision of mortality statistics for England and Wales. National Records Scotland (NRS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for statistics pertaining to Scotland and Northern Ireland. They can be contacted at foi@nrscotland.gov.uk and info@nisra.gov.uk respectively.
All of the conditions mentioned on the death certificate are coded using the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) the coded mortality data available up to end of December 2019 is coded to version 2014 of the ICD10 framework. 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
2020 data
Figure 2 of our deaths registered weekly bulletin shows the number of deaths from 2020 up to 19th February due to Influenza and Pneumonia and the number of deaths involving Influenza and Pneumonia. "Due to" refers only to deaths where Influenza and Pneumonia was recorded as the underlying cause of death and "involving" referring to deaths that had Influenza and Pneumonia mentioned anywhere on the death certificate, whether as an underlying cause or not. Please see the 'download data' option at the bottom of Figure 2 for these statistics.
This figure also contains weekly figures deaths due to and involving COVID-19. I have summed the weekly totals for you for you:
- Deaths involving Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying or secondary cause): 145,979
- Deaths due to Influenza and Pneumonia (underlying cause): 22,805
2001-2019
ONS have also produced a back series as part of our 21st century mortality, which contains all-cause mortality data by ICD code, age and sex, 2001-2019, England and Wales.
The ICD codes used to code Influenza are J09-J11. You can search this in column A.
We do not hold published influenza mortality data by area.
In order to fulfil this request, we would need to create bespoke analysis, which we are not obligated to do under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. We therefore consider this to be information not held. However, the information you have requested may be available to commission as bespoke analysis. Such services would be subject to legal frameworks, disclosure controls, resources and agreement of costs. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contacthealth.data@ons.gov.uk to discuss your enquiry further. Please note, there may be a charge for this work which would be subject to our charging policy.