incidence of Williams syndrome

[Annette Karmiloff-Smith]

Although at one point researchers quoted 1:50,000 for the incidence 
of Williams syndrome, in more recent years the figure of 1:20,000 
seems to have been agreed by researchers across different countries. 
However, very recently a study from Norway quoted 1:7500 for the 
incidence of WS.

The Chief Executive of the Williams Syndrome Foundation UK has asked 
my opinion on this because it obviously affects leaflets sent to 
doctors and parents.  I should point out that despite better and 
earlier diagnosis of WS, the figures for those joining the WSF in the 
UK have not markedly increased.

I would welcome any comments from those working in the WS research field.
  Looking forward to hearing from you all,
  Many thanks,
Annette



-- 
________________________________________________________________
Professor A.Karmiloff-Smith, CBE, FBA, FMedSci,
Head, Neurocognitive Development Unit,
Institute of Child Health,
30 Guilford Street,
London WC1N 1EH, U.K.
tel: 0207 905 2754
fax: 0207 242 7717
sec: 0207 905 2334
http://www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/ich/html/academicunits/neurocog_dev/n_d_unit.html