Further studies of blood infectivity in an experimental model of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, with an explanation of why blood components do not transmit Creutzfeldt‐Jakob disease in humans

Abstract

Epidemiologic evidence of the absence in humans of disease transmission from plasma components can probably be explained by 1) the absence of significant plasma infectivity until the onset of symptomatic disease, and comparatively low levels of infectivity during the symptomatic stage of disease; 2) the reduction of infectivity during plasma processing; and 3) the need for at least five to seven times more infectious agent to transmit disease by the intravenous than intracerebral route. These and other factors probably also account for the absence of transmission after the administration of whole blood or blood components.