ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2009
Prevalence of disease related prion protein in anonymous tonsil specimens in Britain: cross sectional opportunistic survey.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 106 citations in OpenAlex.
- Interventions to reduce the risk of surgically transmitted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: a cost-effective modelling review.Health technology assessment (Winchester, England) · 2020Pooled it
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- Enhanced Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease surveillance in the older population: Assessment of a protocol for screening brain tissue donations for prion disease.Brain pathology (Zurich, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- A review of the enhanced CJD surveillance feasibility study in the elderly in Scotland, UK.BMC geriatrics · 2024Review
- Non-human primates in prion diseases.Cell and tissue research · 2023Review
- Development of a sensitive real-time quaking-induced conversion (RT-QuIC) assay for application in prion-infected blood.PloS one · 2023Article
- A clinicopathological study of selected cognitive impairment cases in Lothian, Scotland: enhanced CJD surveillance in the 65 + population group.BMC geriatrics · 2022Article
- Considerations in Surgical Management of Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Tonsillectomy and Beyond.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
- The importance of ongoing international surveillance for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2021Review
- Prevalence in Britain of abnormal prion protein in human appendices before and after exposure to the cattle BSE epizootic.Acta neuropathologica · 2020Article
- PAD-Beads enrichment enhances detection of PrPBMC research notes · 2019Article
- Article
- Prion Diseases.Continuum (Minneapolis, Minn.) · 2015Review
- Genetics of Prion Disease in Cattle.Bioinformatics and biology insights · 2015Review
- Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease with extremely low lymphoreticular deposition of prion protein.JAMA neurology · 2014Article
- Article
- Review
- Atypical scrapie prions from sheep and lack of disease in transgenic mice overexpressing human prion protein.Emerging infectious diseases · 2013Article
- Prevalent abnormal prion protein in human appendixes after bovine spongiform encephalopathy epizootic: large scale survey.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2013Article
- Article
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14 authors at 4 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveTo establish with improved accuracy the prevalence of disease related prion protein (PrP(CJD)) in the population of Britain and thereby guide a proportionate public health response to limit the threat of healthcare associated transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD).
designCross sectional opportunistic survey. Study samples Anonymised tonsil pairs removed at elective tonsillectomy throughout England and Scotland.
settingNational anonymous tissue archive for England and Scotland.
main outcome measurePresence of PrP(CJD) determined by using two enzyme immunoassays based on different analytical principles, with further investigation by immunohistochemistry or immunoblotting of any samples reactive in either assay.
resultsTesting of 63 007 samples was completed by the end of September 2008. Of these, 12 753 were from the birth cohort in which most vCJD cases have arisen (1961-85) and 19 908 were from the 1986-95 cohort that would have been also exposed to bovine spongiform encephalopathy through infected meat or meat products. None of the samples tested was unequivocally reactive in both enzyme immunoassays. Only two samples were reactive in one or other enzyme immunoassay and equivocal in the other, and nine samples were equivocally reactive in both enzyme immunoassays. Two hundred and seventy six samples were initially reactive in one or other enzyme immunoassay; the repeat reactivity rate was 15% or less, depending on the enzyme immunoassay and cut-off definition. None of the samples (including all the 276 initially reactive in enzyme immunoassay) that were investigated by immunohistochemistry or immunoblotting was positive for the presence of PrP(CJD).
conclusionsThe observed prevalence of PrP(CJD) in tonsils from the 1961-95 combined birth cohort was 0/32 661 with a 95% confidence interval of 0 to 113 per million. In the 1961-85 cohort, the prevalence of zero with a 95% confidence interval of 0 to 289 per million was lower than, but still consistent with, a previous survey of appendix tissue that showed a prevalence of 292 per million with a 95% confidence interval of 60 to 853 per million. Continuing to archive and test tonsil specimens, especially in older birth cohorts, and other complementary large scale anonymous tissue surveys, particularly of post-mortem tissues, will further refine the calculated prevalence of PrP(CJD).
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