Our supply of blood is not compromised, writes Dr Muiris Houston, Medical Correspondent.
The confirmation of the first indigenous case of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) in the Republic is first and foremost a tragedy for the young man and his family. He is seriously ill and, while he may benefit from some experimental treatment for the disease, the clinical outlook is grave.
Because the man never donated blood and did not have major surgery during his lifetime, there is no consequent risk to public health following his diagnosis. Nor did he receive a blood transfusion, so the issue of him having contracted the illness from another person does not arise.
Had he been in receipt of blood products, a theoretical but tiny risk would have existed that blood was the source of the infection. In September this year, health authorities here and in Britain announced that two people in Britain had contracted vCJD after receiving a blood transfusion from a donor who had themselves died of vCJD.
In addition, nine people with vCJD are known to have donated blood which was used to make plasma products in Britain.
Patients who have received such implicated blood products may be at an additional risk of vCJD, but this risk is extremely low.
It is important to emphasise that this small additional risk applied only to Irish people, such as those with haemophilia, who may have received clotting factor while on holiday in Britain.
The integrity and quality of the blood supply in the Republic has not been compromised by the confirmation of the case of vCJD. People should continue to donate and receive blood as before.
It is almost certain the newly diagnosed case of vCJD arose from the victim eating beef contaminated with BSE. Although the young man has normal dietary habits, it is possible that he contracted the disease from eating meat as far back as 15 years ago.
Last year researchers from Beaumont Hospital and the Imperial College in London used statistical modelling to calculate how many cases of vCJD were likely to appear here in the future.
By using a model based on the annual number of cases of vCJD seen in Britain, the source of beef consumed in the Republic and the relative population sizes of the two countries, the scientists calculated there was likely to be just one further case of vCJD here, with an upper limit of 15 cases possible. This risk analysis was based on beef-eating only and did not include those who could contract vCJD from surgical equipment or blood products.
According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, the incidence of BSE in the State is in decline. This follows the introduction of strict controls in 1996.
"We are confident that based on current controls, consumers of Irish beef are not being exposed to the BSE infective agent," the authority said.
