Deaths from dementia may hide cases of new variant CJD

Because Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is most reliably diagnosed at necropsy, it is possible that some cases of new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease may have been misclassified as death from other dementias and neurodegenerative disorders. On p 320, Majeed et al examine trends in death rates from selected dementias and neurodegenerative disorders in people aged 15-64 years in England and Wales in 1979-96. There was no evidence for any increase in death rates during 1979-92 but there was a small increase in 1993-6. It is not possible to say what the cause of this increase was. Their findings suggest that greater surveillance of deaths from dementias and neurodegenerative disorders may be needed to avoid missing deaths possibly associated with BSE.