Rising trend in vCJDcases
Rising trend in vCJDcases
PUBLIC fears about the spread of the human equivalent of BSE intensified this week when government scientists announced a "significant" rising trend in cases of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Seventy-six people in the UK, including seven "probables", have now contracted vCJD, according to SEAC, which advises the government on BSE and CJD.
Twelve people have already died from the disease this year, compared with 13 in the whole of last year.
SEAC has identified a rising trend of 20-30% a year but says it is too early to predict the final size of the epidemic.
An investigation into the backgrounds of five vCJD victims, clustered around the Leics village of Queniborough, is currently underway.
Ruled out
The man leading the investigation, Philip Monk of Leics Health Authority, ruled out school meals and baby food as the common cause this week.
This followed comments quoted in the press at the weekend by Robert Will, the director of the national CJD surveillance unit.
He cited school meals and baby food made from "mechanically recovered meat" as a possible reason why vCJD has hit a high proportion of young people.