A fourth case of variant-Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) associated with a blood transfusion has recently been diagnosed.  This fourth latest case has been classified by the National CJD Surveillance Unit as a ‘probable' case of vCJD. The patient had received a blood transfusion about nine years ago from a donor who later went on to develop vCJD. A transfusion from the same blood donor was also associated with one of the previously identified cases. The patient is still alive and is under specialist care.

All four cases relate to the transfusion of blood components: no cases have been reported relating to treatment with plasma products. The identification of cases of variant-CJD associated with blood transfusion has depended on the Transfusion Medicine Epidemiology Review, a collaborative study between the National Blood Services, the National CJD Surveillance Unit and the Office of National Statistics.

To date, there have been 66 people identified in the UK who have received vCJD implicated blood transfusions. The transfusions received by these 66 individuals were donated by eighteen different donors who were diagnosed with vCJD after their blood donation. Of these 66 people, 40 have died of illnesses other than vCJD, including one patient who was found to have evidence of vCJD in parts of their body after their death. Including the new (4th) case, 3 of these people who have received vCJD implicated blood transfusions have developed symptoms of vCJD. There are 23 people who have received vCJD implicated blood transfusions who are alive and have not been diagnosed with vCJD.

All these individuals have previously been informed of their potential exposure to vCJD and asked to take certain precautions to reduce the chance of passing on vCJD to other people via healthcare procedures, such as surgery.

A full Health Protection Agency (HPA) press statement about this development can be read here

The National CJD Surveillance Unit is based at the Western General Hospital Edinburgh: www.cjd.ed.ac.uk