‘Taking the test could save your life’

Bowel cancer is a significant cause of ill health and premature death.

The breast screening programme covers the whole of Northern Ireland. The programme invites women by GP practice every three years. A woman might be aged 50, 51 or 52 when she receives her first invite to attend – the first invitation will be before the age of 53.

In order to be invited women must ensure that their GP has their correct name and current address on their computer system.

In Northern Ireland all pregnant women are offered a screening blood test to check for hepatitis B, HIV, and syphilis infection and for rubella virus (german measles) susceptibility.

The blood test is part of the booking bloods offered at the women’s first antenatal appointment. The vast majority of women screened will not be infected, or be susceptible to the rubella virus, but for the very small number of those who are, the benefits of screening are substantial.

The most comprehensive source of data on sexually transmitted infections in Northern Ireland is provided by the five genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinics in Belfast, Coleraine, Londonderry, Newry and Downpatrick.

Data are recorded on gender, age and male sexual orientation for certain infections. Area of residence is not recorded.

Surveillance arrangements for HIV/AIDS infection are based largely on the confidential reporting of HIV infected individuals to the Public Health England’s Centre for Infections in London.

Winter is traditionally a time when respiratory infections are common amongst the population. Although most of these are not serious in the vast majority of individuals, they can cause complications, particularly for those who are immunocompromised and, for example, those with chronic cardiac, respiratory or renal disease.

They are also responsible for significant morbidity in the community and associated socio-economic burdens, eg increases in the workload of healthcare workers, absence from work and non-attendance in schools.

The commonest form of bacterial meningitis is caused by infection with Neisseria Meningitidis.

Meningococcal disease may present as meningitis (inflammation of the brain meninges) and/or septicaemia (blood poisoning) and is most common during the winter months.

Case definitions

Confirmed case: Clinical diagnosis of meningitis, septicaemia or other invasive disease AND at least one of:

Hepatitis was traditionally separated into two types based on clinical and epidemiological characteristics: type A caused by the hepatitis A virus (HAV) and type B caused by the hepatitis B virus (HBV).

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) cannot be cultivated, and it was only through recombinant DNA technology that a diagnostic test was devised to identify hepatitis C as the major cause of what had previously been termed non-A non-B (NANB) hepatitis.

Gastrointestinal infections

This page provides surveillance data on selected gastrointestinal diseases. For information on the symptoms, treatment and reporting of gastrointestinal illness please click here.

For a more detailed analysis of the main gastrointestinal diseases please see the latest annual report under the publications section below.