Child death by sepsis from 2016 to 2018

You asked

I would like to request the number of children in the UK whose cause of death was due to sepsis in years 2016 to 2018 respectively.

We said

Thank you for your request.

We are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in England and Wales.

Underlying cause of death is coded using the International Classification of Diseases, version 10 (ICD-10). Deaths with an underlying cause of sepsis are assigned the ICD-10 codes A40 (Streptococcal sepsis) or A41 (Other sepsis). Figures for deaths by underlying cause and age groups are available for 2013 to 2017 from our explorable dataset NOMIS. Figures for 2018 will be published in July/August (provisional) this year.

https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/construct/summary.asp?mode=construct&version=0&dataset=161

However, in England and Wales, deaths to those aged under 28 days (neonatal deaths) are registered using a special death certificate which means the underlying cause cannot be derived. Therefore, ONS has developed a hierarchical classification system (ONS cause groups) producing broad cause groups to enable direct comparison of neonatal deaths to postneonatal deaths. The hierarchical classification allows the death to be assigned to a specific category, based on the likely timing of the damage leading to the death. More information on ONS cause groups and neonatal death certificate can be found in section 6 of the user guide to child mortality.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/methodologies/userguidetochildmortalitystatistics#coding-the-underlying-cause-of-death

According to the ONS cause groups, neonatal deaths due to sepsis fall under the grouping ‘Infection’. Figures for England and Wales for deaths that have occurred in 2016 are available in table 6 of Child mortality in England and Wales. Figures for 2017 will be published in March/April (provisional) this year and figures for 2018 will be published in 2020.

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/childmortalitystatisticschildhoodinfantandperinatalchildhoodinfantandperinatalmortalityinenglandandwales

We do not hold underlying cause of death data for Scotland and Northern Ireland. National Records of Scotland (NRS) and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) are responsible for publishing statistics on deaths registered in Scotland and Northern Ireland respectively.

https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/statistics-and-data/statistics/statistics-by-theme/vital-events/deaths

https://www.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/births-deaths-and-marriages/deaths

If this does not meet you requirement, special extracts and tabulations are available to order (subject to legal frameworks, disclosure control, resources and agreements of costs, where appropriate).

Such enquiries should be made to:

Vital Statistics Outputs Branch
Office for National Statistics
Segensworth Road Titchfield
Fareham Hampshire
PO15 5RR
Tel: +44 (0)1329 444 110
E-mail: vsob@ons.gov.uk