vCJD and Transfusion Risk
Abstract
Researchers in England and Scotland have identified what they say may be the first case of possible transmission through a blood transfusion of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), the human version of mad cow disease (Lancet. 2004;363:417-421). The researchers identified 48 individuals who received a blood component from donors who later developed vCJD; one of the 48 subsequently developed symptoms of the illness. Although it isn't possible to rule out that the transfusion...