Mortality from dementia in occupations at risk of exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy: analysis of death registrations

BMJ 1999;318:1044-1045 ( 17 April )

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Mortality from dementia in occupations at risk of exposure to bovine spongiform encephalopathy: analysis of death registrations

Commentary: Uncertainty over length of incubation tempers optimism

Paul Aylin, senior clinical lecturer, ^a Julia Bunting, researcher, ^b Bianca De Stavola, senior lecturer, ^c Michel P Coleman, deputy chief medical statistician. ^b

^a Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, Imperial College of Medicine at St Mary's, London W2 1PG, ^b Health and Demography, Office for National Statistics, London SW1V 2QQ, ^c Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London WC1E 7HT

Correspondence to: Dr Aylin p.aylin@ic.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Since the early 1980s close contact with animals or animal products infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy has poseda putative risk of infection with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. Severalgroups with potentially high exposure have already been identified.¹

To study whether transmissible spongiform encephalopathy has had any effect on people working in animal husbandry and slaughter,we used national mortality records to examine patterns of mortalityfrom Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and other dementias during 1979-80and 1982-96.

Subjects, methods, and results

We studied people who died aged 20-74 years during 1979-1996 in England and Wales and for whom the occupational informationrecorded at death included butcher and abattoir worker, farmerand farm worker, or veterinarian. Women were selected on the basisof their own occupation, if recorded, or on the occupation oftheir spouse.

Table Removed (Available Only in the Full Text)

The causes of death selected for study were Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (ICD-9 046.1) and a wide range of dementias, includingthose most likely to be misdiagnosed . . . [Full text of this article]