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Study confirms vCJD could be transmitted by blood transfusion
August 29, 2008A 9-year study in sheep has added to the evidence that vCJD can be transmitted through blood transfusion in humans
The findings underline the importance of precautions against vCJD transmission, such as the Government decision in 2004 to ban blood donations from anyone who had received a blood transfusion since 1980.
The study published in Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology, looked at BSE transmission between sheep through infected blood with the aim of quantifying how vCJD - the human form of BSE - could be spread through transfusions.
Researchers (Fiona Houston, Nora Hunter and colleagues) at the Neuropathogenesis Unit at the Institute of Animal Health, which is now part of The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, found that the likelihood of BSE being transmitted between sheep through transfusion of infected sheep blood was 36 per cent, with rates of 43 per cent found for scrapie.
Fiona Houston, now at the University of Glasgow, who led the research, said: "It is apparent that the stage of disease incubation in infected donors played a large role in the likelihood of transmission. The longer that BSE or scrapie had been carried by donors, the greater the likelihood of the disease being transmitted with transfusions of infected blood."
While cases of vCJD are tailing off there are concerns that up to 4,000 people could be carrying the disease in the UK, which could then be transmitted through infected blood causing further infections.
Scientists are working to develop a test for vCJD that can be used before symptoms develop and a filter is also being trialled to remove prions - infective proteins - from donated blood.
Dr Houston said: "The study shows that, for sheep infected with BSE or scrapie, transmission rates via blood transfusion can be high, particularly when donors are in the later stages of infection. This suggests that blood transfusion represents an efficient route of transmission for these diseases and justifies the current control measures put in place to safeguard human blood supplies.
"While it may not correlate directly to what happens in the human population, due to factors such as species differences in genetic susceptibility to disease, it provides greater insight into the role of how vCJD may be carried through infected blood. By understanding how vCJD can be transmitted through blood transfusions, we can ensure the most effective control measures to minimise human to human infection."
BSE is one of a group of rare neurodegenerative disorders called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which include scrapie and vCJD. Of 22 sheep that received BSE infected blood, eight showed evidence of infection. Nine out of 21 sheep receiving scrapie-infected blood developed the disease.
To date 167 cases of vCJD have been recorded in the United Kingdom, of which three patients are thought to have received vCJD through infected blood.
University of Edinburgh
Researchers (Fiona Houston, Nora Hunter and colleagues) at the Neuropathogenesis Unit at the Institute of Animal Health, which is now part of The Roslin Institute, University of Edinburgh, found that the likelihood of BSE being transmitted between sheep through transfusion of infected sheep blood was 36 per cent, with rates of 43 per cent found for scrapie.
Fiona Houston, now at the University of Glasgow, who led the research, said: "It is apparent that the stage of disease incubation in infected donors played a large role in the likelihood of transmission. The longer that BSE or scrapie had been carried by donors, the greater the likelihood of the disease being transmitted with transfusions of infected blood."
While cases of vCJD are tailing off there are concerns that up to 4,000 people could be carrying the disease in the UK, which could then be transmitted through infected blood causing further infections.
Scientists are working to develop a test for vCJD that can be used before symptoms develop and a filter is also being trialled to remove prions - infective proteins - from donated blood.
Dr Houston said: "The study shows that, for sheep infected with BSE or scrapie, transmission rates via blood transfusion can be high, particularly when donors are in the later stages of infection. This suggests that blood transfusion represents an efficient route of transmission for these diseases and justifies the current control measures put in place to safeguard human blood supplies.
"While it may not correlate directly to what happens in the human population, due to factors such as species differences in genetic susceptibility to disease, it provides greater insight into the role of how vCJD may be carried through infected blood. By understanding how vCJD can be transmitted through blood transfusions, we can ensure the most effective control measures to minimise human to human infection."
BSE is one of a group of rare neurodegenerative disorders called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), which include scrapie and vCJD. Of 22 sheep that received BSE infected blood, eight showed evidence of infection. Nine out of 21 sheep receiving scrapie-infected blood developed the disease.
To date 167 cases of vCJD have been recorded in the United Kingdom, of which three patients are thought to have received vCJD through infected blood.
University of Edinburgh
VCJD Current Events and VCJD News RSSPrevalence of variant CJD agent in Britain remains uncertain
First results from a large tissue survey in Britain of the agent that causes variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) are unable so far to establish that the prevalence is lower than that given by previous estimates, concludes a study published on bmj.com today.
Antibody key to treating variant CJD, scientists find
Scientists at the University of Liverpool have determined the atomic structure of the 'binding' between a brain protein and an antibody that could be key to treating patients with diseases such as variant CJD.
Changes in urine could lead to BSE test for live animals
Researchers have demonstrated that protein levels in urine samples can indicate both the presence and progress of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE) disease in cattle.
Variant of mad cow disease may be transmitted by blood transfusions, according to animal study
Blood transfusions are a valuable treatment mechanism in modern medicine, but can come with the risk of donor disease transmission. Researchers are continually studying the biology of blood products to understand how certain diseases are transmitted in an effort to reduce this risk during blood transfusions.
Blood transfusion-transmitted infections: A global perspective
Thanks to the many blood-safety interventions introduced since 1984, the overall risk for most transfusion-transmitted infections has become exceedingly small.
Call for data on reuse of surgical instruments to allay fears over vCJD transmission
A study published today in the online edition of the Journal of the Royal Society Interface has been exploring the likelihood that vCJD might be spread via the reuse of surgical instruments, and calls for more data in order to allay fears over the possible transmission of vCJD.
Prion find points way to test for human 'mad cow' disease
In the July 7, 2006, issue of the journal Science, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) describe experiments that may soon lead to a test that will enable medical science to estimate how many people are infected with the human form of mad cow disease, which can take as long as 40 years before manifesting itself.
Studies validating performance of Pall prion reduction technology presented at AABB
Prion diseases, such as variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), the human form of Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy or "mad cow" disease, are of growing concern to blood services worldwide because of the potential for transmission through transfusion from asymptomatic donors.
Mad cow proteins successfully detected in blood
Researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB) have found a way to detect in blood the malformed proteins that cause "mad cow disease," the first time such "prions" have been detected biochemically in blood.
Likelihood of a large vCJD epidemic remains small claim researchers
The likelihood of a large number of future cases of vCJD remains small claim researchers from Imperial College London.
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