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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch
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To: Karen Lawrence who wrote (35557)1/19/2004 11:56:57 AM
From: lurqer  Read Replies (1) of 89467
 
The Brits had to learn the hard way, but they are far ahead of us now.

Action Urged to Stop Human 'Mad Cow' in UK Blood

In a letter published in the British Medical Journal, a senior member of the UK's Medical Research Council calls for urgent action to prevent the spread of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) -- the human form of mad cow disease -- through blood transfusions.
Last month, UK health secretary John Reid announced the first case of vCJD that is believed to have to have occurred through blood donation.

In light of this event, Dr. Sheila M. Bird, a statistician with the MRC, emphasizes that "we now need to take steps" to spell out the rights and responsibilities of people who have received blood and blood products that were possibly contaminated with vCJD, as well as those of the rest of the population.

In her letter, Dr. Bird outlines several steps that can be taken to prevent further human-to-human spread of vCJD:

--Anyone with suspected CJD should be reported to a national surveillance unit and then be cross-checked against a list of recipients who may have received vCJD-contaminated blood.

--Use of blood products and other tissues from donors suspected of having CJD should stop immediately.

--To prevent further transmission, before a definitive diagnosis is made, recipients of blood potentially contaminated with vCJD should be notified immediately of this risk.

--Careful follow-up is needed for at-risk recipients who have undergone surgery in order to identify the extended network of at-risk subjects.

--Counseling is needed for subjects in the at-risk network to help them assess their own risk and further reduce the risk of human-to-human spread.

Until more is known about bloodborne transmission, she concludes, "we must hope for the best and protect against the worst."

reuters.com

lurqer
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