Probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease reported (in Halifax, NS) | G&M

[Ediacara]

Probable Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease reported
Canadian Press

Halifax — Nova Scotia's largest hospital has postponed surgeries and removed some surgical equipment after the discovery of a probable case of classical Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in one patient.

The possible case of the fatal brain disease at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax was announced Tuesday by the Capital Health Authority, the body that oversees hospitals in Halifax and surrounding areas.

“We want to make sure that what we're doing is absolutely the right thing to be doing for patients to ensure that there is no risk,” said Geoff Wilson, a spokesman for the authority.

No details of the case were released, and Mr. Wilson stressed that the presence of the disease has yet to be confirmed. A final diagnosis probably will be made within days, he said.

More at the Globe and Mail

[Sticky]

1. Yikes!

That's MY hospital! I haven't heard a thing about it locally.

[Warpy]

2. CJD is extremely rare, hard to catch, and very slow

Why a hospital would react in this fashion is beyond me, unless the patient who contracted it is one of their old neurosurgery or transplant patients. It has been documented as having been transmitted by hard to sterilize surgical instruments and some transplants, especially corneal transplants.

The disease typically takes years to manifest, although this varies with the v-CJD known as Mad Cow, so the source of infection is usually a guess, at best. Although MRI scans may be useful for diagnosis in the last stage of the disease, autopsy is the only way to diagnose it officially.

It is rare enough that most neurologists go through their careers without seeing a single case. I've seen 3. It's a horrible way to go.

[Sticky]

3. The QE11 Hospital is brand new!

Maybe 5 years old.

Edited to add it's not in any of our local papers.

"Health Minister Angus MacIsaac stressed that the initial diagnosis has yet to be confirmed."

[Dogmudgeon]

4. The luck of the draw

I worked at a major Ivy-related hospital doing EEGs and other such tests in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and I got to see four or five cases of CJD. I had no fear and did the tests without much persuasion -- I just made sure to glove up well and work slowly.

The reaction of some of the other staff to CJD was frightening. It was almost as if it was the middle ages and the patient had leprosy. Even some of the doctors there had a nervous moment or two (and the neurologists I knew were generally fearless).

These days, most people think CJD = BSE (Mad Cow Disease), although they are probably not the same exact thing. The public level of anxiety over BSE is much higher than the actual incidence of BSE would support; it's even worse with SARS.

Not that I can blame people for being afraid of diseases that might kill them. But when you compare the risk level to those posed by smoking or even driving a car, the "fear factor" emerges as a disease all its own.

But I agree ... CJD is an awful death. One patient I met swore she'd kill herself before the dementia set in. Since that was in 1989, I suppose she is long gone.

--bkl

[Ediacara]

5. Public anxiety vs actual incidence

I agree, people are more scared than they should, but as has been said before, prion diseases are terrible ways to go.

[Hand]

6. Probably BSE-related...

There's been major trouble over BSE in Canada this year (Alberta's fauult--they can't do cattle inspection worth a fart in a spacesuit). The US border's been closed to Canadian livestock for months now (guess Chimpy hasn't heard that this hurts his soulmate Ralph Klein, another alcoholic right-wing tool of the oil interests--but I digress).

Also SARS was a bad one this year in Ontario--neither one of these crises hit Nova Scotia, mostly pure luck. Heaven knows our idiot Tory government wouldn't know what to do if they did. Well, actually they would know what to do: make lame excuses and blame the feds. Swine...

So I'm sure that the local health authority is being hypervigilant around this incident, even if it is unlikely to lead further. Can't say that I blame them, either.

A good friend from college died of KJD a couple of years ago, hereditary in his case. He spent the last year of his life travelling the country (US) to visit friends and family for the last time and heal out any differences or old hurts. He was a rather troubled guy, but had a truly good heart. I hadn't seen him in many, many years, but felt the loss nonetheless.

So long, Glenn. Good to have known you. :cry:

[nodehopper]

10. question:

You seem knowledgeable on the subject! Can you clear something up for me: Can BSE be transmitted just by eating cooked beef, or does it need to be bone marrow/brain, etc. I.e., is it really possible to get BSE from burgers?

[Dogmudgeon]

12. A Bad Answer

In theory: You can get BSE from any source. It doesn't even have to be beef. The idea being worked on now is that prions are proteins that need favorable "biological templates" to become active, but the proteins themselves can be carried by anything.

Some vegetarians are using fear of BSE to promote vegetarianism. It's as short-sighted as it is cynical. Plants have been identified as prion carriers. The fear is that if BSE becomes widespread in the ecosystem, nothing will stop its transmission, and there will be a die-off of all species which it affects, including (presumably) humans.

It's possible to get BSE from burgers, but not likely. It's also possible to get BSE from tofurkey. The brain and nerve tissue of an infected animal are almost certain to carry the prion, but the danger is disseminated throughout the ecosystem. We seriously need to improve the way we raise both plants and animals for food.

Right now, it appears that prions are very difficult to "catch". That's the good news. The bad news is that avoiding beef will only give you a modest edge against BSE. You might as well eat beef (if you aren't a vegetarian) and keep healthy enough in any and all ways, to be able to fight as many illnesses as you can.

--bkl

[nodehopper]

14. I see, thanks!

[DoYouEverWonder]

7. A final diagnosis probably will be made within days?

The only way to diagnose this disease is by doing a brain biopsy, which is something they unusually only do after you're dead. Especially, since a diagnosis of Creutzfeldt-Jakob won't do the patient any good any way.

[Chicago Democrat]

8. That is bad news...

Gosh I luvs my cheeseburgers.

[SheilaT]

9. A man I know died of

Creutzfeldt-Jakob about three years ago, and I believe no autopsy was done because there was a very high danger of contamination from his blood. I also believe he was cremated because there it likewise not a good idea to embalm him again because of blood and bodily fluids.

It's not transmitted easily in normal living, but blood/bodily fluids are a real problem.

The version this man had progressed VERY rapidly. He died less than six months from the onset of symptoms.

[livetohike]

11. My husband's Aunt died from CJD in

Pgh. in 1993. The doctors asked the family to share info on the disease with all family members. It's a horrible disease. My husband can no longer donate blood due to having a family history of CJD. The med profession still does not know enough about this.

The info we were given suggested the disease may be transmitted through eating infected lamb, beef, or oysters, but this was over ten years ago. Hopefully, they know more now.

[bain_sidhe]

13. Some info on BSE-CJD-Alzheimer's in Hightower Lowdown

http://www.hightowerlowdown.org/articles/apr04_v6_n4/apr04_v6_n4_1.cfm

Unfortunately, you have to be a subscriber to read the whole article, (only the first page of it is online, which doesn't include the bit about the possible links) but it points out that the incidence of Alzheimer's has been surging in the last two decades... This has been fairly well reported, but what HASN'T been reported is that autopsy studies have shown that 20% of the people diagnosed with Alzheimer's were misdiagnosed - they actually had CJD. The study didn't investigate whether those were the "regular" (non-BSE related) or the vCJD, which is caused by eating BSE-infected meat.

And, as noted in posts above, CJD is considered a "rare" disease itself. If 20% of the - again, "surging" - number of Alzheimer's diagnoses are actually CJD cases, then it follows that CJD is on the upswing too, right? Why?

[Zynx]

15. That's not good at all.