1. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease mortality in Canada, 1998 to 2013.
- Author
-
Coulthart, M. B., Jansen, G. H., Connolly, T., D'Amour, R., Kruse, J., Lynch, J., Sabourin, S., Wang, Z., Giulivi, A., Ricketts, M. N., and Cashman, N. R.
- Subjects
CREUTZFELDT-Jakob disease ,NEURODEGENERATION ,PUBLIC health ,MORTALITY ,MEDICAL personnel ,PATIENTS - Abstract
Background: Human prion diseases, known collectively as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), are fatal, infectious neurodegenerative disorders that occur in all human populations.Objective: To summarize national surveillance data for CJD in Canada between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2013.Methods: Detailed investigations were conducted of individual suspected CJD cases, with collaboration between Canadian health professionals and investigators affiliated with a central CJD surveillance registry operated by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Data were collected on the clinical profile, family history, and results of paraclinical and laboratory investigations, including post-mortem neuropathological examination.Results: A total of 662 deaths from definite and probable CJD were identified in Canadian residents during the study period, comprising 613 cases of sporadic CJD (92.6%), 43 cases of genetic prion disease (6.5%), 4 cases of iatrogenic CJD (0.6%), and 2 cases of variant CJD disease (0.3%). The overall crude mortality rate for sporadic CJD was 1.18 per million per year [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08,1.27]. Age-specific rates ranged from 0.05 [95% CI: 0.03,0.08] in persons under 50 years of age to 7.11 [95% CI: 6.20,8.11] in those aged 70 to 79. A significant net upward trend in age-adjusted rates was observed over the study period. Standardized mortality ratios, calculated for 10 individual Canadian provinces with reference to national average mortality rates, did not differ significantly from 1.0.Conclusion: Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease remains rare in Canada, although mortality rates vary by two orders of magnitude between older and younger age groups. The upward trend in age-standardized sporadic CJD mortality rate over the study period can be better accounted for by gradually improving case ascertainment than by a real increase in incidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2015
- Full Text
- View/download PDF