Potential Epidemic of Creutzfeldt–Jakob Disease from Human Growth Hormone Therapy

Abstract

A DECADE after the demonstration that Creutzfeldt—Jakob disease could be accidentally transmitted from one person to another during brain or eye surgery,^{1 , 2} iatrogenic Creutzfeldt—Jakob disease has reappeared as a result of earlier therapy with human growth hormone, with the ominous possibility of a burgeoning epidemic.Within just a few months, three young adults in the United States have died from the disease, confirmed neuropathologically in two patients and clinically detected but unconfirmed in one³; an additional neuropathologically confirmed case has been identified in Great Britain.⁴ Salient data on these four cases are summarized in Table 1. (The details of both . . .