Note other PRO-MED references to Japan ie "CJD & dura mater transplants - Japan 19971117.2307"

Rick

Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 23:37:17 -0400 (EDT)
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promed.isid.harvard.edu>
Subject: PRO/EDR> CJD, possible surgical transmission - USA (Louisiana)
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CJD: POSSIBLE SURGICAL TRANSMISSION - USA (LOUISIANA)
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A ProMED-mail post
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[see also:
1999
----
CJD, optical equipment, multiple use 19991226.2211
CJD, optical equipment multiple use ban - UK 19991022.1893
CJD, optical equipment multiple use ban - UK (02) 19991025.1929
CJD, optical equipment multiple use ban - UK (03) 19991026.1942
1998
----
CJD, reducing risk from dura mater grafts - USA 19980425.0774
1997
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CJD & dura mater transplants - Japan 19971117.2307
CJD & dura mater transplants - Japan (02) 19971120.2341
CJD & dura mater transplants - Thailand 19971203.2418]
Date: Fri, 27 Oct 2000 09:08:07 EDT
From: Mark Schleifstein <Mersmia@aol.com>
Source: The Times-Picayune, 27 Oct 2000 [edited]
<http://www.nola.com/t-p/frontpage/index.ssf?/t-p/frontpage/340918407-1027na
tio
nal01.html>
Surgical Instruments May Have Spread CJD In Tulane Hospital
----------------------------------------------------------
TULANE: A patient who died after brain surgery at Tulane University Hospital
was found to have had a rare incurable brain disorder, Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (CJD), that may have been passed on to 8 other patients when
they underwent operations using some of the same instruments, hospital
officials said on Thu 26 Oct 2000.
About 6000 people worldwide each year contract the disease, which results
in progressive dementia and loss of physical functions, leaving the brain
with holes and a sponge-like consistency. The disease is fatal generally
within a year of the onset of symptoms. The only definitive way to diagnose
the malady is through an autopsy, according to the Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
Foundation Inc. of North Miami, Fla.
The 8 surviving Tulane patients are at risk because the mysterious agent
that causes the illness resists standard washing and sterilization
procedures, said Dr. Alan Miller, Tulane University Health Sciences Center's
Vice President For Clinical Affairs. The surgical instruments were destroyed
as soon as Tulane officials learned of the problem, he said. The Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, which renewed the
hospital's accreditation last month for 3 years, will investigate the
incident, commission spokeswoman Charlene Hill said. She declined to
speculate on what the commission might do. The federal Health Care Financing
Administration, which administers Medicare and Medicaid programs, also is
studying the death. The 8 living patients, all of whom underwent brain
surgery, are receiving counseling and "related medical care," Miller said in
a prepared statement.
[Byline John Pope]
--
Mark Schleifstein
<mersmia@aol.com>
[This is a surprising lapse. In the UK to reduce the risk of spread of new
variant CJD the use of disposable instruments is now recommended even for
minor surgical procedures such as tonsillectomy. - Mod.CP]
.................................cp/es
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