Patients still infected by the human form of mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), are...
Patients still infected by the human form of mad cow disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), are not out of the danger zone, it has emerged.
Professor John Collinge, at the Medical Research Council's Prion Unit, has found that the 24 patients who remain alive out of the original 66 who were diagnosed with CJD still remain at "substantial risk".
The 24 remaining patients contracted the disease after blood transfusions. Collinge added that prions seem to be easily passed through blood transfusions, which suggested that the infection may be efficiently passed by this route.
The first patient to contract the disease has since died. Two others died before their illnesses were confirmed.
From cows to humans, CJD spread via a blood transfusion can develop in just six or seven years. However, in humans, prion diseases can incubate for as long as 50 years before symptoms make themselves known.
The incubation period - when prions pass from one human to another - is considered much shorter than when they pass between different species. Therefore, prions entering the body through a blood transfusion rather than through eating meat infected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), are thought to develop CJD more quickly.
Currently, there is no effective treatment for any form of the disease, but a tonsil test could allow people with it to access experimental treatments early.
Commenting on the situation, Alison Turner-Holmes, head of marketing at Scottish Provident, said: "Like any newly diagnosed illness, the number of cases have been relatively low. We believe this is a relatively new illness that is with us to stay and therefore claims will rise due to the improved diagnostic techniques and the 'awareness' of the existence of this strain of dementia."
Turner-Holmes added that the provider will continue to offer cover as a specified illness. "Many providers say it is included under the dementia definition, but covering it adds clarity for the consumer and the adviser," she concluded.
