British vCJD case may tighten blood donor rules

ANOTHER case of a possible transmission of the human form of BSE through a blood transfusion in Britain may result in the Irish Blood Transfusion Service Board (IBTS) taking further stringent measures to minimise any infection risk.

The patient died from causes unrelated to variant CJD, but a post mortem found that the deadly rogue form of the prion protein linked to the disease in the person’s spleen.

The patient had received blood from a donor in 1999 who later developed vCJD.

It is the second case where a possible transmission of vCJD via a blood transfusion has been revealed by the Department of Health in Britain.

In December last year, the first reported case of a patient who died of vCJD after receiving blood from an infected donor was discovered. The patient, who received blood during an operation in 1997, developed vCJD and died six years later.

An IBTS spokesperson said they were aware of the second case and would be keeping their deferral criteria under review.

The board already operates a strict policy of excluding certain categories of people to minimise any threat to blood safety.

In May of this year the IBTS decided to introduce new measures, resulting in the loss of 5% of donors.

Excluded from donating are people who have spent three years or more in Britain and Northern Ireland from 1980 to 1996. Also excluded are people who have received a blood transfusion in the Republic of Ireland since January 1, 1980. People who have received a blood transfusion outside the Republic are also excluded from donating blood.

Since 1997, cases in Britain that are reported to the National CJD Surveillance Unit and diagnosed as having ‘probable’ vCJD, are passed onto the country’s blood bank which searches is blood donor records.

Latest figures show that 142 people have died from vCJD in Britain. Fifteen blood donors have gone on to develop vCJD and at least 48 people received red blood cells or other blood components.

Many of the transfusion recipients were seriously ill and died from other causes but 17 were still alive earlier this year.

More details about the second case are expected to be published in the Lancet medical journal.