blood supply Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease 16 May 2011 : Column 61W Commons Hansard

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease


Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to protect the blood supply from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. [55158]

Anne Milton: The following precautionary measures have been implemented to protect the blood supply and products made by fractionating plasma:

From December 1997, blood components, plasma products or tissues obtained from any individual who later develops variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), have been withdrawn/recalled to prevent their use;

From October 1999, white blood cells (which may carry a risk of transmitting vCJD) have been reduced in all blood used for transfusion, a process known as leucodepletion or leucoreduction;

Following the report of the first possible case of transmission of vCJD by blood transfusion in December 2003, individuals who had themselves received a transfusion of blood components since January 1980 were excluded from donating blood. This took effect from April 2004, and in July 2004, this exclusion criterion for blood donation was extended to include two further groups, who had received transfusions of blood components since 1980:

Previously transfused platelet donors,

Donors who were unsure if they had previously had a blood transfusion. This now applies to donors who have been transfused anywhere in the world;

Since 1999, plasma for the manufacture of fractionated plasma products, such as clotting factors, has been obtained from non-United Kingdom sources;

16 May 2011 : Column 61W

Since 2004, fresh frozen plasma for treating babies and young children born on or after 1 January 1996 has been obtained from non-UK sources, and from July 2005 its use was extended to all children up to the age of 16; and

Cryoprecipitate, for use in the under-16s, is now produced from imported methylene blue treated-plasma.

All of these measures were recommended or endorsed by the Advisory Committee on the Safety of Blood, Tissues and Organs (which first met in January 2008) or its predecessor committees.

Additionally, considerable effort is being extended to promote appropriate use of blood throughout the national health service, to target blood use to where it is clinically essential, and for bleeding disorder patients (such as haemophiliacs) UK plasma has not been used for the manufacture of clotting factors since 1999 and recombinant clotting factors are now available for all patients for whom they are suitable.

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what estimate he has made of the number of people who are considered to be at risk of contracting variant Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease; [55157]

(2) what estimate his Department has made of the number of people carrying the infective prions that cause variant Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease; and what proportion of such people he estimates are registered as blood donors. [55160]

Anne Milton: A study published in 2004 of stored appendix and tonsil tissue samples found abnormal prion protein in three appendices out of 12,674 samples. This suggested a population prevalence of about one in 4,000, though with very wide confidence interval of between one in 1,400 and one in 20,000. A further study of over 96,000 tonsils pairs is nearing completion, and a study of 30,000 appendix samples is due to be completed in 2012. Prevalence estimates are kept under active review by the relevant expert scientific advisory committees, who will review all the evidence on the completion of these ongoing studies.

In England about 4.4% of the population are blood donors, and the prevalence of potentially infective blood donors remains unknown. Not all of the individuals in the 2004 published study would be of an age eligible to donate blood, nor is it clear whether presence of abnormal prion protein in tissues such as the appendix or tonsils indicates that the blood of such a donor would transmit variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. All precautionary measures are assessed in the context of the fundamental uncertainties about prevalence.

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate his Department has made of the number of people diagnosed with variant Creuztfeldt-Jakob disease. [55159]

Anne Milton: Since 1995 175 patients have been identified with definite or probable variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the United Kingdom.

The National Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease Research and Surveillance Unit publishes monthly figures on all cases of human prion disease, including vCJD, on the website at:

www.cjd.ed.ac.uk/



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Dental Services

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists' surgeries he has visited in an official capacity in the last 12 months. [55229]

Mr Simon Burns: In the last 12 months my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health (Mr Lansley) has visited one community dental service in an official capacity. My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Earl Howe) leads on dentistry within the ministerial team and has visited two dental practices in the last 12 months, one in Worcester and one in London. He has also visited dentists providing oral health promotion services for children provided in a children's centre in Preston.



http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmhansrd/cm110516/text/110516w0003.htm#11051625000037






CREUTZFELDT JAKOB DISEASE



Monday, May 16, 2011


Does Poor Dental Health Have a Role in the Emergence of Variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease in the United Kingdom?


http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/05/does-poor-dental-health-have-role-in.html






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Since 2004, fresh frozen plasma for treating babies and young children born on or after 1 January 1996 has been obtained from non-UK sources, and from July 2005 its use was extended to all children up to the age of 16; and Cryoprecipitate, for use in the under-16s, is now produced from imported methylene blue treated-plasma.



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Saturday, May 14, 2011


USA Blood products, collected from a donor who was at risk for vCJD, were distributed Nationally and Internationally MAY 11, 2011



http://vcjdtransfusion.blogspot.com/2011/05/usa-blood-products-collected-from-donor.html





Tuesday, March 29, 2011

TRANSMISSIBLE SPONGIFORM ENCEPHALOPATHY EXPOSURE SPREADING VIA HOSPITALS AND SURGICAL PROCEDURES AROUND THE GLOBE


http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/03/transmissible-spongiform-encephalopathy.html





Tuesday, April 26, 2011

sporadic CJD RISING Text and figures of the latest annual report of the NCJDRSU covering the period 1990-2009 (published 11th March 2011)


http://creutzfeldt-jakob-disease.blogspot.com/2011/04/sporadic-cjd-rising-text-and-figures-of.html




Friday, May 13,


2011 EFSA Joint Scientific Opinion on any possible epidemiological or molecular association between TSEs in animals and humans



http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/05/efsa-joint-scientific-opinion-on-any.html





Sunday, May 01, 2011

STUDY OF ATYPICAL BSE 2010 Annual Report May 2011


http://bse-atypical.blogspot.com/2011/05/study-of-atypical-bse-2010-annual.html




Saturday, March 5, 2011

MAD COW ATYPICAL CJD PRION TSE CASES WITH CLASSIFICATIONS PENDING ON THE RISE IN NORTH AMERICA



http://transmissiblespongiformencephalopathy.blogspot.com/2011/03/mad-cow-atypical-cjd-prion-tse-cases.html





TSS