Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and blood transfusion: updated results of the <scp>UK</scp> Transfusion Medicine Epidemiology Review Study

<jats:sec><jats:title>Background and Objectives</jats:title><jats:p>This paper reports the results to 31 May 2015 of an ongoing <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">UK</jats:styled-content> study to look for additional cases of variant Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">vCJD</jats:styled-content>) transmission by blood transfusion, and to seek evidence whether other subtypes of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CJD</jats:styled-content>) may be transmissible via blood components.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and Methods</jats:title><jats:p>All <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">vCJD</jats:styled-content> cases of appropriate age and any sporadic <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CJD</jats:styled-content> (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">sCJD</jats:styled-content>) or familial <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CJD</jats:styled-content> (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">fCJD</jats:styled-content>) cases with a history of blood donation or transfusion are notified to the <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">UKBS</jats:styled-content>. Donation records are sought and the usage of all donations is determined by look back. Death certificates are obtained for all donors to patients with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CJD</jats:styled-content> and recipients of transfused components from patients with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CJD</jats:styled-content> who are deceased.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>The study identified 29 <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">sCJD</jats:styled-content> blood donors, of 370 reported, with transfusion to 211 recipients. Five of these recipients were reported to have died with or of dementia, but were not believed to be cases of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">CJD</jats:styled-content>. The <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">vCJD</jats:styled-content> arm found 18 <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">vCJD</jats:styled-content> blood donors who had donated blood which was issued for clinical usage, of 24 traced donors from 177 <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">UK vCJD</jats:styled-content> cases. To date, 3 cases of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">vCJD</jats:styled-content> have occurred in 67 recipients identified in this recipient group, and one recipient had post‐mortem confirmation of abnormal prion protein deposition in the spleen (all previously reported).</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion</jats:title><jats:p>The results of the ongoing <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">TMER</jats:styled-content> study show no new cases of transfusion‐associated <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">vCJD</jats:styled-content> since 2007 and no evidence of transfusion transmission of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">sCJD</jats:styled-content>.</jats:p></jats:sec>