Lamb: Anaphylactic shock cases double in a decade

1.57.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 9th Apr 2009

The number of people admitted to hospital with anaphylactic shock has doubled in ten years, figures uncovered by the Liberal Democrats have revealed.

The figures, released in answer to a Parliamentary Question, show that: The number of hospital admissions has doubled to 3,385 The number of deaths from anaphylactic shock has tripled to 24 a year Anaphylactic shock due to adverse reactions to drugs and medicines has almost doubled to 494 incidents a year

Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Health Secretary, Norman Lamb said:

"Understanding what the cause of this shocking increase is must be an urgent priority.

"While the number of fatalities is currently relatively low, a threefold increase is horrifying. Every effort must be made to reverse this disturbing trend.

"The Government must investigate why this is happening so that preventative action can be taken urgently."