Updated Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease infection control guidelines: sifting facts from fiction

Hodgson, Robert A

doi:10.5694/mja13.10379

To the Editor: The editorial by Koehler and colleagues on the updated Australian Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD) guidelines has left me confused.1 I believe that adherence to the guidelines could contribute to CJD and variant CJD changing from sporadic to endemic diseases.

Department of Anaesthetics, Frankston Anaesthetic Service, Melbourne, VIC.

Correspondence: bob.joy.hodgson@gmail.com

Competing interests:

No relevant disclosures.

1. Koehler A, Athan E, Collins S. Updated Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease infection control guidelines: sifting facts from fiction. Med J Aust 2013; 198: 245-246. <MJA full text>
2. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease infection control guidelines. Canberra: DoHA, 2013. http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/icg-guidelines-index.htm (accessed Aug 2013).
3. CJD Support Network. Genetic CJD. Market Drayton: CJD Support Network, 2008. http://www.cjdsupport.net/UserFiles/File/25249.pdf%20printers%20final%20copy%20genetic%20cjd(1).pdf (accessed Aug 2013).
4. Johnson RT, Gibbs CJ Jr. Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease and related transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. N Engl J Med 1998; 339: 1994-2004.
5. World Health Organization. WHO tables on tissue infectivity distribution in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies. Geneva: WHO, 2010. http://www.who.int/bloodproducts/tablestissue infectivity.pdf (accessed Aug 2013).

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