Variant CJD (Hansard, 12 January 2004)

§ Mrs. Calton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the risk of possible infection with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease from large pools of plasma; and what the likely effects are of dilution of infected blood products in large pools. [145450]

§ Miss Melanie Johnson
The Department has commissioned a risk assessment to consider these questions and findings are not yet available.

§ Mrs. Calton
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department takes to trace recipients of blood donated by donors identified as having(a) variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and (b) other blood-borne diseases. [145453]
626W

§ Miss Melanie Johnson
The Transfusion Medicine Epidemiology Review is a collaborative project between the United Kingdom National CJD Surveillance Unit (NCJDSU) and United Kingdom Blood Services (UKBS). The main purpose is to investigate whether there is any evidence that Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may have been transmitted via the blood supply.
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease cases are notified to the UKBS by NCJDSU; a search establishes whether any have acted as donors. Donation records are checked and all components traced through hospital records. Details of all identified recipients are forwarded to NCJDSU for subsequent checking.
In the reverse procedure, patients with variant CJD reported to have received blood transfusions are identified by NCJDSU and notified to UKBS. Details of transfusions are traced through hospital records and relevant blood donors identified. The identity of donors is notified to NCJDSU for subsequent checking.
The safety of blood used in the National Health Service is of paramount importance. Every reasonable step has been taken to minimise any risks during blood transfusion. The current high levels of safety are achieved by screening out potential high risk donors and then further testing of every unit of donated blood for HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, Human T Cell Leukaemia Virus, and Syphilis before it is released to NHS hospitals.