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Background: Practice-based morbidity surveys inform on the prevalence of diseases presenting for health care. The last major survey in England and Wales was conducted in 1991., Aim: To reveal changes in disease prevalence between 1991 and 2001., Design of Study: Population-based analysis of persons presenting to GPs. Annual prevalence of diseases reported in the Weekly Returns Service (WRS) of the Royal College of General Practitioners in 2001 was compared with prevalence reported in Morbidity Statistics from General Practice, Fourth National Study (MSGP4)., Setting: Thirty-eight general practices contributing to the WRS, monitoring a population of 326,000 in 2001., Method: Prevalence was determined from Read codes for morbidity entered in the respective survey years. Diseases and disease groups were defined from Read codes mapping to the chapters, major sub-groups and 3-digit codes of the International Classification of Disease version 9 (ICD9). Age-standardised prevalence rates per 10,000 registered persons and 99% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using the national census population for 2001 as the standard. Survey differences in prevalence were identified from non-overlapping CIs., Results: There was a general reduction in the prevalence of disease caused by infection and an increase of degenerative disorders. The prevalence of mental disorders, skin disease and musculoskeletal disorders showed little change. Particular increases were noted for other malignant and benign neoplasms of the skin, hypothyroidism and diabetes. There were marked reductions for disorders of the conjunctiva, ear infections, acute myocardial infarction and heart failure, respiratory infections and injuries., Conclusions: The role of the GP continues to change. These results confirm the importance of the management of chronic diseases as the dominant (though not the sole) role of the GP. The results demonstrate the use of the WRS as a source of data on disease prevalence.

Threats from bioterrorism are of national and international concern. We outline a system of disease surveillance covering a selection of diseases linked to potential bioterrorist threats, based on the weekly returns service of the Royal College of General Practitioners and covering a surveillance population of 650,000 in England and Wales. Practices record working diagnoses and the episode type (distinguishing new episodes of illness from ongoing consultations) on patients' computerised medical records. These are interrogated twice weekly by using automated routines. The registered population and persons consulting for each Read code (group of codes) are counted in sex and age specific groups and the data forwarded electronically to the Research Unit, where the results are consolidated by region (North, Central, South). Weekly incidence rates between October 2001 and September 2002 were compared with the weekly average over the past seven years for 13 selected conditions. Detailed data are presented for three conditions (asthma, infections of the skin, disorders of the peripheral nervous system). For asthma increased incidence was reported in weeks 31 and 32 of 2002, predominantly in the Central region. For the other two conditions no unusual peaks of incidence were observed in any region. Operational research based on disciplined recording of morbidity in general practice can deliver timely surveillance data on bioterrorist threats.