Transfusion risk for vCJD 'substantial'

People given blood transfusions contaminated with the agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) are now considered to be at substantial risk.

The study published in medical journal The Lancet by Professor John Collinge reported that an assessment of 66 people known to have received contaminated blood has confirmed that blood not only is an effective means of transferring the infectious agent but also appears to reduce the incubation time of the disease.

Two cases of vCJD linked to a blood transfusion were reported in 2004. Both had received blood from a donor who later developed vCJD. One patient developed signs of the disease six years after the transfusion and died 13 months later. The other patient did not develop symptoms five years after the transfusion, but died from an unrelated illness.

However, a third patient was diagnosed with vCJD while still alive. He took part in an experimental drug trial, but succumbed to the disease some nine years after the transfusion.

The incubation time of vCJD is known to be very long and experts claim that a person may have the disease for 50 years before symptoms become clinically evident.

This means that tissues and blood from infected individuals pose a significant risk to others. To date 24 people are known to be at risk following transfusions with blood known to be contaminated with vCJD. They face an uncertain future as this route of transmission shortens the incubation period for the disease significantly, probably to just six or seven years.

It is hoped that a tonsil screening study currently being conducted will help to provide an estimate of the infection in the wider population.

(SP/KMcA)