But assessing such technologies in the real world may be a good deal more difficult, given that there is currently no assay sensitive enough to reliably detect the disease in people with clinical vCJD, cautioned Marc L. Turner, M.D., Ph.D., a clinical director of the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service and Chair of the vCJD Working Group of the United Kingdom Transfusion Services Specialist Advisory Committee on Transfusion Transmitted Infections.
"Until these technologies can be clinically and operationally assessed, the best protection against the uncertain risk of transfusion-associated prion disease remains in ensuring that blood products are used only if needed and that the uncertainties surrounding potential risks are communicated effectively to patients and to the public at large," Dr. Turner wrote in an accompanying editorial.
| Dr. Rohwer and two of his co-authors are cofounders and part owners of Pathogen Removal and Diagnostics Technologies, which sponsored the study. Three of the other authors are employees of ProMetic BioSciences, a joint venture partner in the development of the removal resin, and two are employees of the American National Red Cross, also a joint venture partner in the development of the resin. |
