3 ms·

Prions are indeed scary - I still remember a comment to the effect that pathologists can never be really sure their instruments are safe to work with again. (

by chokma 11y ago

Prions are indeed scary - I still remember a comment to the effect that pathologists can never be really sure their instruments are safe to work with again. ( http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2011/11/29/a_things_i_wont_work_with_request.php#648176 http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2011/11/29/a_things_i_w... ) A bit more about that from a better source: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/surgical-exposure-to-cjd-prion/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/surgical-exposure-...

rsync 11y ago
"I still remember a comment to the effect that pathologists can never be really sure their instruments are safe to work with again." That sounds like an easy (albeit wasteful) problem to solve.
JauntTrooper 11y ago
Wow, what a scary realization that our once-thought-safe sterilization techniques were inadequate. This article is a bit more optimistic that a combination of screening and better sterilization techniques has reduced the risk to more acceptable levels: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358170/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358170/ "Fragile instruments such as endoscopes and electrodes remain a challenge, but new and gentler methods— alkaline cleaning solutions, phenolics, and gaseous hydrogen peroxide—have proven harmless to instruments and give a high, if not always complete, degree of prion inactivation (24–26)."
metasean 11y ago
A couple of months after having surgery to replace a blown cervical disk, I received a letter telling me that a prior surgical patient had died of Creutzfeldt–Jakob and, among other things, that I may have been exposed via surgical instruments. My girlfriend at the time was actually really knowledgeable about Creutzfeldt–Jakob. After many, many questions and a some more research on my own, the one consoling thing is that if I had it, by the time the symptoms manifested, I would be too incoherent to really understand what was happening. While I've certainly lost some cognitive abilities in the intervening decade, I haven't had any symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob. However, I have felt compelled to stop donating blood, and have rescinded my organ-donor status (although I've made it clear to my family members that my body is to me made available for research purposes). edited: for clarity

by chokma 11y ago

rsync 11y ago

"I still remember a comment to the effect that pathologists can never be really sure their instruments are safe to work with again." That sounds like an easy (albeit wasteful) problem to solve.

JauntTrooper 11y ago

Wow, what a scary realization that our once-thought-safe sterilization techniques were inadequate. This article is a bit more optimistic that a combination of screening and better sterilization techniques has reduced the risk to more acceptable levels: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358170/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3358170/ "Fragile instruments such as endoscopes and electrodes remain a challenge, but new and gentler methods— alkaline cleaning solutions, phenolics, and gaseous hydrogen peroxide—have proven harmless to instruments and give a high, if not always complete, degree of prion inactivation (24–26)."

metasean 11y ago

A couple of months after having surgery to replace a blown cervical disk, I received a letter telling me that a prior surgical patient had died of Creutzfeldt–Jakob and, among other things, that I may have been exposed via surgical instruments. My girlfriend at the time was actually really knowledgeable about Creutzfeldt–Jakob. After many, many questions and a some more research on my own, the one consoling thing is that if I had it, by the time the symptoms manifested, I would be too incoherent to really understand what was happening. While I've certainly lost some cognitive abilities in the intervening decade, I haven't had any symptoms of Creutzfeldt-Jakob. However, I have felt compelled to stop donating blood, and have rescinded my organ-donor status (although I've made it clear to my family members that my body is to me made available for research purposes). edited: for clarity