Loading...
Concerns have been raised that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) might be transmissible by blood. Several risk-reduction measures have been introduced, such as leukodepletion and donor deferral. To date, four patients with a transfusion-associated vCJD infection have been identified in the U.K. Two new reports focus on vCJD transmission by blood transfusion.
Wroe and colleagues report on the clinical and diagnostic features of one of the four patients, a man who developed a typical clinical syndrome of vCJD. At age 23, he had been transfused with 22 units of red cells, 15 units of fresh frozen plasma, and 3 platelet doses because of pelvic bleeding after abdominal surgery due to colitis ulcerosa. At age 29, he was notified of his expo…