Tag: Jim Shannon

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many people were infected with bacillus cereus in each of the last five years.

Jane Ellison

The numbers of reported patient infection episodes of Bacillus cereus, isolated from blood samples from all age-groups between 2009 and 2013 in England, are shown in the following table.

Year	Number of patient infection episodes	Organism name	Specimen type	Country
2009	50	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2010	46	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2011	39	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2012	37	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England
2013	56	Bacillus Cereus	Blood	England

These data were extracted from Public Health England’s centralised microbiology database (LabBase2), which collects voluntarily reported microbiology data from participating laboratories across England. Although only clinically significant isolates should be reported to LabBase2, some of the reports may be contaminants that occurred either during collection or during processing of samples as B. cereus is a ubiquitous environmental organism.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-04-30.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what discussions he has had with (a) the Royal Colleges and (b) pharmaceutical companies about the efficacy of anti-depressants.

Norman Lamb

A search of the Department’s records and those of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has found no record of any such correspondence or discussions.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-04.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the time taken to prescribe drugs for heart disease.

Jane Ellison

My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State has made no recent assessment of the time taken to prescribe drugs for heart disease. All drugs should be prescribed in accordance with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2014-06-17.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps the Minister is taking to prevent bacillus cereus infections in the UK.

Jane Ellison

Bacillus cereus is a spore forming bacterium found widely in the environment in dust, soil and vegetation. There is limited prevention as it is a naturally occurring bacterium. However, the Food Standards Agency has published advice on their website which details information on potential food poisoning caused by Bacillus cereus.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) undertake inspections of manufacturing facilities with reference to the standards of Good Manufacturing Practice to verify that companies are producing medicines that are of the correct quality and safety. The manufacture of sterile products, such as Total Parental Nutrition, is subject to special requirements in order to minimise risks of bacterial contamination.

In the case of medicines, the MHRA and Public Health England (PHE) are currently investigating what has caused the recent incident where Total Parenteral Nutrition became contaminated with Bacillus cereus . Based on the information we currently have, we believe this is an isolated incident and the appropriate immediate action has been taken to avoid a recurrence.

The devolved administrations have been informed of the current incident involving Bacillus cereus. The investigations into the cause of this incident are still ongoing. The Department will continue to discuss matters with the devolved administrations for minimising Bacillus cereus infection.

The investigations being undertaken by MHRA and PHE are in their advanced stages and preliminary findings will be published as soon as possible. While the MHRA and PHE are undertaking their own investigations, it would be normal practice for the Coroner to report on the individual case he is currently considering.