Beaumont assessing patients for CJD
[Posted: Fri 19/07/2013 by Deborah Condon www.irishhealth.com]
Beaumont Hospital in Dublin has confirmed that a patient has recently been
diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD) and the hospital is now working
to assess ‘if any risk may exist for other patients'.
CJD is known as a prion disease, which means it can affect both humans and
animals. It is a very rare form of dementia and tends to affect people between
the ages of 50 and 80. However in the 1990s, a new variant (vCJD) of the disease
was identified, which affects people at a much younger age. Research indicates
that vCJD is caused by cross infection from cattle with BSE (mad cow disease),
in other words, it is contracted through eating infected meat.
According to the HSE, ‘prion diseases exist in different forms, all of
which are progressive, currently untreatable and ultimately fatal'. The disease
is notifiable and the annual rate here is one per million of the population. In
2011, seven cases were notified, while in 2010, three cases were.
As the disease can be passed on via contaminated surgical instruments, the
HSE emphasised that when a case of CJD is diagnosed, ‘a review is undertaken to
ensure that any precautions, if needed, are taken, in line with the National and
International Guidance'.
Normal sterilisation procedures are not sufficient to destroy CJD on
surgical instruments. They must either be destroyed or undergo a specialist
sterilisation technique. Concern has now been raised that some of the
instruments used on the patient diagnosed with CJD may have been used on other
patients before the diagnosis was made.
It is not known how many potential patients are affected, although the
number is thought to be low - between 10 and 20.
The hospital is receiving advice from the Irish Panel on TSE (CJD) and from
world experts in the UK who have dealt with similar issues worldwide.
"This group is assessing the circumstances of this case to determine what,
if any, risk may exist for other patients. Further information will be available
once this group has completed its assessment.
"The primary concern of Beaumont Hospital is for its patients and their
care. Until the necessary risk assessment is completed and the necessary contact
made with patients, it is not in a position to discuss the issues under review,"
the hospital stated.
It added that while the number of potential patients affected is low and is
confined to one area of surgery, it has now opened a helpline to respond to any
concerns. The number is 1800 302 602
Thursday, January 17, 2013
TSE guidance, surgical, dental, blood risk factors, Part 4 Infection
control of CJD, vCJD and other human prion diseases in healthcare and community
settings (updated January 2013)
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Late-in-life surgery associated with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: a
methodological outline for evidence-based guidance
Sunday, June 9, 2013
TSEAC March 14, 2013: Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory
Committee Meeting Webcast
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
CJD, TSE, PRION, BLOOD Abstracts of the 23rd Regional Congress of the
International Society of Blood Transfusion, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, June
2-5, 2013
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Use of Materials Derived From Cattle in Human Food and Cosmetics; Reopening
of the Comment Period FDA-2004-N-0188-0051 (TSS SUBMISSION)
FDA believes current regulation protects the public from BSE but reopens
comment period due to new studies
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Current limitations about the cleaning of luminal endoscopes and TSE prion
risk factors there from
Article in Press
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Evidence For CJD TSE Transmission Via Endoscopes 1-24-3 re-Singeltary to
Bramble et al
Evidence For CJD/TSE Transmission Via Endoscopes
From Terry S. Singletary, Sr flounder@wt.net 1-24-3
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
11 patients may have been exposed to fatal disease Creutzfeldt-Jakob
Disease CJD Greenville Memorial Hospital
Thursday, August 02, 2012
CJD case in Saint John prompts letter to patients Canada CJD case in Saint
John prompts letter to patients
Friday, February 10, 2012
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update (2012/1) potential
iatrogenic (healthcare-acquired) exposure to CJD, and on the National Anonymous
Tonsil Archive
Monday, November 26, 2012
Aerosol Transmission of Chronic Wasting Disease in White-tailed Deer
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Aerosols An underestimated vehicle for transmission of prion diseases?
PRION www.landesbioscience.com
please see more on Aerosols and TSE prion disease here ;
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Another Pathologists dies from CJD, another potential occupational death ?
another happenstance of bad luck, a spontaneous event from nothing, or
friendly fire ???
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Infection control of CJD, vCJD and other human prion diseases in healthcare
and community settings part 4, Annex A1, Annex J,
UPDATE DECEMBER 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee; Notice of
Meeting October 28 and 29, 2010 (COMMENT SUBMISSION)
Thursday, September 02, 2010
NEUROSURGERY AND CREUTZFELDT-JAKOB DISEASE Health Law, Ethics, and Human
Rights The Disclosure Dilemma
Thursday, August 12, 2010
USA Blood products, collected from a donor who was at risk for vCJD, were
distributed July-August 2010
Sunday, August 01, 2010
Blood product, collected from a donors possibly at increased risk for vCJD
only, was distributed USA JULY 2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Nosocomial transmission of sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease: results from
a risk-based assessment of surgical interventions Public release date:
8-Jul-2010
Thursday, July 08, 2010
GLOBAL CLUSTERS OF CREUTZFELDT JAKOB DISEASE - A REVIEW 2010
Wednesday, June 02, 2010
CJD Annex H UPDATE AFTER DEATH PRECAUTIONS Published: 2 June 2003 Updated:
May 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Current risk of iatrogenic Creutzfeld–Jakob disease in the UK: efficacy of
available cleaning chemistries and reusability of neurosurgical instruments
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
Review of the Human Pituitary Trust Account and CJD Issue 20 January 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents: Safe Working and the
Prevention of Infection: Part 4 REVISED FEB. 2010
Monday, August 17, 2009
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy Agents: Safe Working and the
Prevention of Infection: Annex J,K, AND D Published: 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Pre-surgical risk assessment for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)
risk in neurosurgery and eye surgery units
Friday, July 17, 2009
Revision to pre-surgical assessment of risk for vCJD in neurosurgery and
eye surgery units Volume 3 No 28; 17 July 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Meeting of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Committee On June
12, 2009 (Singeltary submission)
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Medical Procedures and Risk for Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, Japan,
1999-2008 (WARNING TO Neurosurgeons and Ophthalmologists) Volume 15, Number
2-February 2009 Research
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tonometer disinfection practice in the United Kingdom: A national survey
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories Fifth Edition 2007
(occupational exposure to prion diseases)
Monday, December 31, 2007
Risk Assessment of Transmission of Sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in
Endodontic Practice in Absence of Adequate Prion Inactivation
Subject: CJD: update for dental staff
Date: November 12, 2006 at 3:25 pm PST
1: Dent Update. 2006 Oct;33(8):454-6, 458-60.
CJD: update for dental staff.
*** The potential impact of prion diseases on human health was greatly
magnified by the recognition that interspecies transfer of BSE to humans by beef
ingestion resulted in vCJD. While changes in animal feed constituents and
slaughter practices appear to have curtailed vCJD, there is concern that CWD of
free-ranging deer and elk in the U.S. might also cross the species barrier.
Thus, consuming venison could be a source of human prion disease. Whether BSE
and CWD represent interspecies scrapie transfer or are newly arisen prion
diseases is unknown. Therefore, the possibility of transmission of prion disease
through other food animals cannot be ruled out. There is evidence that vCJD can
be transmitted through blood transfusion. There is likely a pool of unknown size
of asymptomatic individuals infected with vCJD, and there may be asymptomatic
individuals infected with the CWD equivalent. These circumstances represent a
potential threat to blood, blood products, and plasma supplies.
TSS