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Surgery May Raise CJD Risk

Small Study Links Operations, Mad Cow Disease

Reuters

L O N D O N, Feb. 26 — Surgery can increase a person’s risk of

getting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), the fatal brain-wasting disorder,

Australian doctors said today.

In a report in The Lancet medical journal, doctors at the

University of Melbourne said a study of 241 cases of sporadic CJD in Australia

between 1990 and 1993 showed a link between the disease and various surgical

procedures.

“We found a range of surgical treatments were associated with

an increased risk of sporadic CJD. Two previous case-controlled studies...found

the risk of CJD was associated with hospital-related therapy,” Dr S and

his colleagues said in the study.

The researchers compared the medical history of the 241

confirmed and suspected CJD victims with 784 healthy volunteers.

Specific CJD Strain Involved

The study was limited to cases of sporadic CJD, a strain of the

brain disorder that occurs in one in a million people a year and has an

incubation period of up to 30 years.

The researchers said the results could have implications for

new variant CJD (nvCJD) which infects much younger people. British scientists

have linked nvCJD to eating beef contaminated with bovine spongiform

encephalopathy (BSE) or mad cow disease. So far 35 people have died in Britain

from nvCJD.

The Australian study showed the more operations a person had,

the greater the risk of getting CJD. The greatest risk was for people who had

had three surgical procedures.

No Link with Common Operations

They found no link with CJD and blood transfusions, organ

transplants or major dental work but said living or working on a farm or with

livestock for more than 10 years was a risk factor.

“We believe our findings should reinforce the heightened

vigilance about infection control at all levels of care in hospital settings,”

the researchers added.

Earlier this month, scientists in Scotland said sterilising

surgical instruments could help spread CJD.

Increasing the temperature of the steriliser actually made it

harder to destroy the CJD prions, rogue brain proteins that are the infectious

agent for the disease. They recommended using disposal surgical instruments.

Copyright 1999 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not

be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Search for more on:

S U M M A R Y

A small Australian study points to a link between sporadic CJD (or

mad cow disease) and number of surgical operations.

More on Mad Cow Disease

CJD: A Disease in Disguise?

New Test for Mad Cow

The CJD Data Gap

“We believe our findings should reinforce the heightened vigilance

about infection control at all levels of care in hospital settings.”

Researchers

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