Tonsillectomy & Mad Cow Disease

[Guest guest]

This article on the medical spread of certain diseases makes for some

interesting reading:

<http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,34863,00.html>

THE TIMES, UK

Monday November 13, 2000

CJD ( " Mad Cow Disease " ) risk in tonsil surgeons' equipment

HALF the surgical instruments used for tonsil operations could be

contaminated by variant CJD, according to an expert.

Collinge, of Imperial College School of Medicine in London, said that the

estimate had been made by ear, nose and throat surgeons at St 's Hospital,

Paddington, part of the medical school. " Based on 10,000 people incubating the

disease, which is a conservative estimate, they calculated that half the

tonsillectomy sets in the UK are contaminated, " he said. " This is potentially a

serious problem. "

There has long been concern that vCJD, the human form of " mad cow " disease,

might be spread by surgical instruments because the causative agent is far

more resistant to cleaning and heat sterilisation than normal bacteria and

viruses.

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Dr Mel C Siff

Denver, USA

mcsiff@...