Universal white blood cell reduction in Europe: has transmission of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease been prevented?

The article by Vamvakas reviews universal leukocyte reduction in Europe and its impact on the transmission of the new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). A historical overview of the development and distribution of the disease in Europe is presented. The author is very experienced in the field of infectious disease transmission by blood components and has published a number of articles in this field. The transmission of vCJD is a rare event and measures to reduce the risk of vCJD are effective today. Modern filter systems including nano filtration may be an adequate tool to avoid the transmission of prions by different blood components. However, the various filter systems of RBCs, platelet and FFP have shown different efficacies.

– Rainer Moog