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The Commons Science and Technology Committee published a report saying more action is needed to ensure that variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) is not inadvertently transmitted from person-to-person through medical procedures.
Prof David Brown, Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Bath, said:
“It is always important to do what is necessary to reduce the potential risk of the spread of prions. However, the response required at this point in time should be in line with the current threat. While recent data has suggested that a small percentage of people carry some amount of abnormal prion protein, the reality is that we do not know its origin or cause. This should be combined with the current incidence of vCJD which is now thankfully zero. If this situation has been reached without additional screening or preventative measure then the reality is any further measures are likely to have no impact at all.
“You cannot reduce incidence below zero. I do think it is inappropriate to over-interpret data from a study on prion protein distribution in historical tissue samples to imply anything about latent cases of vCJD.
“Saying this I do believe it is also essential to have instrument cleaning practices in hospitals to be as robust as possible.”
Prof John Hardy, Professor of Neuroscience at University College London, said:
“Mad Cow disease and new Variant CJD were a disastrous consequence of poor animal carcass handling procedures in the late 1980s amplified by a lax government response to diseased meat reaching the human food chain in subsequent years. We were fortunate that the problem only killed in total about 200 people.
“Clearly, vigilance needs to be maintained to prevent the disease’s re-emergence through medical infections and it is appropriate the Commons committee is maintaining scrutiny of this important issue.”
Declared interests
None declared