NR ATGI
AU Will,R.G.; Knight,R.S.G.; Ward,H.J.T.
TI Variant CJD: past, present and future
QU International Conference - Prion 2005: Between fundamentals and society's needs - 19.10.-21.10.2005, Congress Center Düsseldorf - Oral sessions ORAL-39
PT Konferenz-Vortrag
AB
Variant CJD (vCJD) is the only prion disease that is thought to be a zoonosis. Accumulating evidence indicates that the agents of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) and vCJD are congruent, but direct evidence of a causal link is lacking. A case-control study in the UK, using community based controls, has shown of an increased risk of developing vCJD through past consumption of food products containing high titre bovine tissues.
Estimates of the predicted total future size of the vCJD epidemic have become more conservative, in parallel to a decline in the annual number of vCJD deaths in the UK. However, an increasing number of countries have identified cases of vCJD and many have no history of residence in the UK, indicating indigenous exposure to infection. Cases of vCJD have now been identified in France, Ireland, Italy, the USA, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain in addition to the UK.
The identification of probable transfusion transmission of vCJD and the probability of relatively high transmission efficiency by this route underlines the importance of maintaining a precautionary approach to prevent new exposures to infection. Recent measures introduced in the UK include deferral of transfusion recipients as blood donors, informing some categories of plasma recipient of exposure to potentially contaminated blood products and informing donors of blood transfused to vCJD cases that they may be at an increased risk of developing this condition.
AD R.G.Will, R.S.G.Knight, H.J.T.Ward, National CJD Surveillance Unit, Western generaal Hospital, Edinburgh EH4 2XU, UK
SP englisch
PO Deutschland