Hi Judith...it's Judith...that is scary!  HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
----- Original Message -----
From: Judith Richards <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 28, 2000 5:08 AM
Subject: NEWS-CJD-New Orleans Patients Exposed to Rare Brain Disease


> Scary!!!
>
> New Orleans Patients Exposed to Rare Brain Disease
>
> http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20001028/sc/health_brain_dc_2.html
>
> NEW ORLEANS, October 28, 2000 (Reuters) - Eight patients may have been
> exposed to a rare and fatal brain ailment after they were operated on
> with the same
> instruments that had been used on a person who died of the illness,
> officials at
> Tulane University Hospital say.
>
> The patients were notified of the danger after it was discovered the
> instruments may have been tainted with Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a
> variant
> of which is linked to ``mad cow'' disease.
>
> The instruments received routine washing and sterilization after being
> used
> earlier on a patient later found to have died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob
> disease, but
> the hospital said Friday that the risk of spreading the brain-wasting
> ailment
> may not have been eliminated.
>
> The Wall Street Journal said the incident began in March when the
> original patient underwent surgery, but the hospital in New Orleans did
> not tell the other eight patients about the problem until this week.
>
> The hospital, in a statement by its vice president Alan Miller, said
> only that the ``the eight patients who potentially have been exposed
> have been contacted, and we are providing counseling and the related
> medical care they need.'' Miller said the names of the people would not
> be released.
>
> Medical experts said it was impossible to know if the patients, all of
> whom underwent brain surgery, would contract the mysterious disease.
> Symptoms may not develop for years and its presence is detected only
> through autopsy, they said.
>
> Autopsy results on the original patient, which the Journal said were
> known in May, found that the patient had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease,
> which leaves the brain with holes and a sponge-like consistency. It
> causes progressive dementia, loss of physical functions and death.
>
> Before the autopsy, the surgical tools that had been used on the
> infected patient were used on the eight people now at risk.
>
> "After the patient was treated, the surgical instruments used were put
> through normal washing and sterilization procedures and used in
> operations involving eight other patients,'' Miller said in a statement.
>
> "The Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease risk is reduced by washing, but not
> eliminated by normal sterilization protocols. The eight patients who may
> have been exposed ... might have some risk of contracting the disease,''
> he said.
>
> Miller said the tainted tools had been ``taken out of service'' and that
> the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web
> sites) had been notified.
>
> Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is related to bovine spongiform
> encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease, which is thought to be
> transmitted to humans through the eating of infected beef. At least 70
> people in Great Britain have died from the bovine-related illness.
>
> The disease is thought to be transmitted through infected proteins
> called "prions."
>
> The CDC estimates the annual incidence of Creutzfeldt-Jakob is about one
> case per million people.
>   Copyright © 2000 Yahoo! Inc., and Reuters Limited.
>
> --
> Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
> [log in to unmask]
>                         Today's Research...
>                                 Tomorrow's Cure
>