BMJ  2004;329:251 (31 July), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7460.251-a

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Government confirms second case of vCJD transmitted by blood transfusion

Stephen Pincock

London

A second case in the United Kingdom of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) that may have been transmitted through a blood transfusion has been confirmed by the National CJD Surveillance Unit, the Department of Health has said.

The case involved a patient who had a blood transfusion in 1999 from a donor who later went on to develop vCJD. The patient died of causes unrelated to vCJD, but a post mortem examination showed the presence of disease causing prion proteins in the patient's spleen.

Few details of this second case were available, but a detailed account will be appearing soon in the Lancet, the government said. At the same time, ministers said they would tighten restrictions on blood donations in an effort to reduce the risk of transmitting the disease.

Since April this year people who have received a blood transfusion since January 1980 have been excluded from donating blood.


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