Young at most risk from CJD

15 August 1997

Young at most risk from CJD

YOUNG peoples propensity to eat burgers, meat pies and kebabs may put them at higher risk of catching Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), according to figures from professor Nicholas Day and colleagues at the University of Cambridge.

Three times as many 16-24 year olds ate these foods as 50-64 year olds when infected beef was in the food chain.

They say most of the confirmed victims of the new CJD variant are young people.