Possible Patient Exposure to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Announced New Hampshire DHHS
Press Release
Possible Patient Exposure to Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Announced
Contact: Public Information Office (603) 271-9391
Publish Date: September 4, 2013
Concord, NH – The New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services
(DHHS), Catholic Medical Center (CMC), and the Manchester Health Department
(MHD) announce that neurosurgery on a patient at CMC, who is now suspected to
have had Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (CJD), may have resulted in the exposure of 8
other neurosurgery patients. The only way to 100% diagnose CJD is through
autopsy, which is currently under way at the National Prion Disease Pathology
Surveillance Center.
This patient is believed to have sporadic CJD, meaning it happens
spontaneously with no known cause. Sporadic CJD is not variant CJD, also known
by the nickname "mad cow disease," which is transmitted by eating contaminated
beef.
The 8 patients were potentially exposed through neurosurgical equipment,
because the prion that causes sporadic CJD is not eradicated by the standard
sterilization process mandated at hospitals. CMC has notified all of these
patients about their potential risk. The general public and any other patients
at CMC and their employees are not at any risk.
"The risk to these individuals is considered extremely low," said Dr. José
Montero, Director of Public Health at DHHS, "but after extensive expert
discussion, we could not conclude that there was no risk, so we are taking the
step of notifying the patients and providing them with as much information as we
can. Our sympathies are with all of the patients and their families, as this may
be a confusing and difficult situation."
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is a rare and fatal disease that affects
the nervous system and causes deterioration of the brain. It affects about one
in a million people each year worldwide. In the United States, only about 200
people are diagnosed with CJD each year.
"Our concern is with the health and well-being of the eight patients who
may have been exposed to CJD," says Dr. Joseph Pepe, M.D., President and CEO of
CMC. "We will work closely with these families to help them in any way possible,
even though the risk of infection is extremely low."
In the early stages of CJD, the patient may have rapidly failing memory and
other cognitive difficulties. These symptoms become worse much faster than with
other more common types of dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease. Other symptoms
can include personality changes including anxiety and depression, lack of
coordination, and visual disturbances. As the illness progresses, mental
deterioration becomes pronounced and involuntary movements such as sudden jerky
movements, blindness, weakness of extremities, and coma may occur. There is no
treatment or cure.
For more information about CJD, visit the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention website at www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvrd/cjd/, the World Health
Organization at www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs180/en/, or the NH
Department of Health and Human Services at www.dhhs.nh.gov. For concerns or
questions, contact the NH Department of Health and Human Services, Bureau of
Infectious Disease Control at 603-271-4496, or Catholic Medical Center, Office
of Infection Control at 603-663-6374.
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
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
Friday, August 16, 2013
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) biannual update August 2013 U.K. and
Contaminated blood products induce a highly atypical prion disease devoid of
PrPres in primates
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America updated report
August 2013
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease CJD cases rising North America with Canada seeing
an extreme increase of 48% between 2008 and 2010
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Evaluation of the Zoonotic Potential of Transmissible Mink Encephalopathy
We previously described the biochemical similarities between PrPres derived
from L-BSE infected macaque and cortical MM2 sporadic CJD: those observations
suggest a link between these two uncommon prion phenotypes in a primate model
(it is to note that such a link has not been observed in other models less
relevant from the human situation as hamsters or transgenic mice overexpressing
ovine PrP [28]). We speculate that a group of related animal prion strains
(L-BSE, c-BSE and TME) would have a zoonotic potential and lead to prion
diseases in humans with a type 2 PrPres molecular signature (and more
specifically type 2B for vCJD)
snip...
Together with previous experiments performed in ovinized and bovinized
transgenic mice and hamsters [8,9] indicating similarities between TME and
L-BSE, the data support the hypothesis that L-BSE could be the origin of the TME
outbreaks in North America and Europe during the mid-1900s.
TSS
posted by Terry S. Singeltary Sr. at
10:20 AM
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