Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) may be
transmissible by blood. To prevent secondary transmission
through blood components, several countries have started
to exclude as donors persons who have received a blood
transfusion. We investigated the effectiveness of this measure
by using a dynamic age-structured model. It is the first
such model based on epidemiologic data: 1) blood donor
activities, 2) a case-control study on CJD, 3) age distribution
of recipients, and 4) death of recipients of blood transfusions.
The model predicts that an infection like vCJD,
which has been introduced into the population by the alimentary
route, could not become endemic by transfusion
alone and that only less than 1% of cases would be avoided by
excluding from blood donation those persons who have
received a transfusion.
Article:
Dietz K, Raddatz G, Wallis J, Muller N, Zerr I, Duerr HP, et al.
Blood transfusion and spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Emerging Infectious Diseases. 2007;13(1):89-96.
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