Rickettsia

Amanda Berkey

Holes in the Matter: A Case of Prion Disease

Microbiology

Dr. Tress

9/28/15

Part 1

1. Which prion disease was the most likely to have been contracted by the people in this story? Justify your choices.

Most likely the prion diseases that Henry contracted was vCJD due to his symptoms such as depression, hallucinating, rigid movements and age. According to the CDC’s web page, the symptoms that Henry has fits the criteria (CDC, 2015).

2. Propose a mode of infection

There is only two modes of infection that make sense for this type of disease and they are acquired or sporadic transmission. Of the two methods proposed the first one is the most likely due to the fact that the people were all attending the college at the same time.

3. Are the family members of the affected individuals at risk? Why or why not?

The family members of the affected individuals are not at risk due to its lack of transmission. The only two modes of infection for vCJD are ingesting contaminated animal products such as beef, or through a blood transfusion. (WHO, 2014).

4. If you were the university president, who would you inform and what would you tell them?

I would try and find out the missing link between the students, what connection did they all have to each other besides just attending my university. Was I allowing contaminated meat products into my cafeteria or did they all take a trip somewhere abroad that does not have such strict health standards on their meat? I would be in contact with my food service manager asking where they are receiving their products from, to ensure that it is not contaminated. Once I found out the link that connected all of these cases together, then I would inform the others involved.

5. Would early intervention help any other who might be infected? If so, what possible treatments could be implemented?

The only way early intervention would help would be to ease the symptoms of the disease and make the...