New variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob (vCJD) disease and other human prion diseases under epidemiological surveillance in Brazil

Abstract To increase the timeliness of detection of human cases of the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and to reduce the risk of transmission, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has established and standardized rules and control measures. These include the definition of criteria for su...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Vera Lúcia Gattás, Antonio Silva Lima Neto, George Santiago Dimech, Denise Mancini, Ligia Maria Cantarino, José Ricardo Pio Marins, Expedito José Albuquerque Luna
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Associação Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento
Series:Dementia & Neuropsychologia
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642007000400339&lng=en&tlng=en
Description
Summary:Abstract To increase the timeliness of detection of human cases of the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) and to reduce the risk of transmission, the Brazilian Ministry of Health has established and standardized rules and control measures. These include the definition of criteria for suspect cases, reporting, monitoring, and control measures for illness prevention and transmission. Guidelines to be used by the team of health care staff were published and distributed to health workers. A detailed proposal for a simplified system of surveillance for prion diseases was developed and mandatory reporting introduced. Additional effort is necessary to increase vCJD case detection, thus making it necessary to establish a partnership with health care services for best identification of suspected cases and dissemination of information to all involved in the service dealing with vCJD investigation.
ISSN:1980-5764