Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in health professionals in Slovakia

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) is the most important human transmissible s pongiform encephalopathy (prion disease), recognised in sporadic, genetic b ut also iatrogenic forms. The identification of 8 health care workers in a group of 114 definitive CJD patients in Slovakia suggested the possibility of professionaly acquired CJD and induced the investigation of potential en do- and exogenous risk factors. In CJD-affected health professionals specia l attention was paid to a detailed occupational history, including a possib le professional contact with CJD patient and to the findings characteristic for iatrogenic CJD: early cerebellar symptomatology, long duration of the disease, absence of typical EEG finding and homozygosity of PRNP gene at co don 129. Analysis of epidemiological, clinical and molecular biological dat a in investigated group of CJD-affected health professionals gave no eviden ce of an occupational risk for CJD.