Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease: Recommendations for disinfection and sterilization

Prion diseases constitute a unique infection control problem because prions exhibit unusual resistance to conventional chemical and physical decontami nation methods. Recommendations to prevent cross-transmission of infection from medical devices contaminated by Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) have b een based primarily on prion inactivation studies. The recommendations in t his article consider inactivation data but also use epidemiological studies of prion transmission, infectivity of human tissues, and efficacy of remov ing microbes by cleaning. On the basis of the scientific data, only critica l (e.g., surgical instruments) and semicritical devices contaminated with h igh-risk tissue (i.e., brain, spinal cord, and eye tissue) from high-risk p atients-those with known or suspected infection with CJD-require special tr eatment.