Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Mortality in Italy, 1982–1996

Abstract

We report an estimate of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) deaths in Italy from 1982 to 1996 by using mortality data based on a retrospective review of deaths taken from the mortality data base of the Italian Census Bureau (ISTAT, years 1982–1993), and on the prospective surveillance performed by the Italian National Register of CJD (years 1993–1996). One hundred and ninety-five and 154 deaths attributed to CJD were recorded by ISTAT and the CJD register, respectively. The average annual age-adjusted mortality rate was 0.45 and 0.84 deaths per million for the period 1982–1993 and 1993–1996, respectively. The yearly increase in the number of CJD deaths was mostly due to a rise in the reported deaths among people older than 60 years. The result of the linkage between ISTAT and the CJD register shows that the integrated age-adjusted mortality rate for 1993 was about 1 case per million, similar to the rates observed in other studies and obtained by the CJD register alone in 1996. This study indicates that the data of the CJD register is accurate and therefore important for assessing eventual changes in the characteristics of the disease resulting from bovine spongiform encephalopathy or other new risk factors.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease Mortality in Japan, 1979-2004: Analysis of National Death Certificate Data

“…The increase may have been accompanied to some extent by the improvement of physicians' diagnostic skills for CJD since 1997 when a manual for clinical practice on CJD was introduced in our country. 20,21 Consistent with the previous findings, [22][23][24][25][26][27][28] the present study showed that the CJD mortality rates rapidly increased with age between 50 and 74 years, especially among females, and sharply declined at 80+ years of age, although the causal mechanism remains unexplained. These findings were comparable with those for patients with CJD reported to the Surveillance.…”

Mortality from Human Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies: A Record Linkage Study

“…The most important finding of this study is that the activity of the CJD register was improved, as previously predicted, from 1996 onward [14]. In 1999, the last year of survey, the underreporting of human TSEs to the CJD register was estimated in less than 6% and it is likely that this positive trend would continue in the following years.…”

Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease in Ireland: Epidemiological Aspects 1980–2002

“…CJD ascertainment from death certificates is unreliable, with misclassification reaching 35.6% in 1 year in Italy [16]. In Ireland, if definite cases alone (i.e only autopsy-confirmed cases) were included prior to mid 1996, 8 cases would have been identified, giving an annual incidence of 0.13/million, a figure below that of other European countries for the equivalent time period.…”