For those who are concerned , the article below which was presented at Prion 2010 confirms that additional measures are required to reduce the risk of getting vCJD through blood transfusion. In my view, adoption of the P-Capt filter, which has been recommended by SaBTO is required on a priority basis to protect, not only for children but adults as well.
PPo4-20: All Clinically Relevant Components, from Prion Infected Blood Donors, can Cause Disease
Following a Single Transfusion Sandra McCutcheon,1 Fiona E. Houston,2 Anthony R. Alejo-Blanco,1 Christopher de Wolf,1 Boon Chin Tan,1 Anthony Smith,3 Nora Hunter,1
Valerie S. Hornsey,4 Ian R. MacGregor,4
Christopher V. Prowse,4 Marc Turner5 and Jean C. Manson1
1The Roslin Institute; Roslin, Edinburgh UK; 2The University of Glasgow; Glasgow,
UK; 3The Institute for Animal Health; Compton, Berkshire UK; 4National Science
Laboratory; Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS); Edinburgh, UK;
5University of Edinburgh and SNBTS; Edinburgh, UK
Key words: blood, prion, BSE, transfusion
Introduction. To date, there have been over 220 cases of vCJD worldwide, likely acquired directly from bovine sources. There is concern that human to human transmission from individuals sub-clinically infected with vCJD may amplify/prolong a vCJD epidemic. The area of greatest concern in this respect is blood transfusion, of which there have been several reported cases. Here we examined which blood components are likely to pose the
greatest risk of transmitting vCJD via blood transfusion using our sheep BSE model.
Results. 67% of donors have been confirmed as having BSE. We have recorded 25 positive transmissions of BSE following transfusion of non-leucodepleted blood components and 2 transmissions resulting from the transfusion of leucoreduced red cells and leucoreduced plasma.
Conclusion. We show that all components, prepared to the same criteria as used in human medicine, contain sufficient levels of infectivity to cause disease in recipients following a single blood transfusion. Leucoreduction of plasma and red cell concentrates does not remove infectivity. These data indicate the importance
of devising appropriate control measures to minimise the risk of human to human transmission of vCJD by blood transfusion.
Department of Health, UK (007/0162).
Methods. Sheep were orally infected with bovine BSE brain
homogenate. We collected two full-sized donations of whole
blood, before the onset of clinical signs. The following components
were transfused into naive recipients: whole blood, red cell
concentrates buffy coat, plasma and platelet units. We also transfused
leucoreduced plasma, platelets and red cells. We collected a
unit of whole blood from selected primary recipients for transfusion
into secondary recipients.