Patients informed of increased risk of vCJD contact

Up to 4000 patients in the United Kingdom are being sent a letter this week explaining they may be at increased risk of carrying variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) because they have received blood products donated by people who have gone on to develop the disease.

The step is a highly precautionary one to try to limit the spread of the agent to other people, says the Department of Health. It follows the identification of two cases of vCJD that may have been transmitted through a blood transfusion, one last December and the other in July this year (BMJ 2004;329:251).

The patients who have been sent a letter, most of whom have haemophilia, will be invited to find …