FOI reference: FOI-2024-2293

You asked

I understand you might be able to provide me with the following information as suggested on your website. Please can you tell me how many deaths were attributed to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the UK for the year 2023?

We said

Thank you for your request. 

We are responsible for the production of mortality statistics for deaths registered in England and Wales. This is driven by information collected from death certificates at death registration. National Records Scotland (NRS) and 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. 

Our mortality data comes from 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  

With these definitions in mind, the number of deaths registered in England and Wales in 2023 where the underlying cause was respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was 44. The number of deaths where RSV was mentioned at all on the death certificate was 353. 

Please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk for more information.