October 30, 2003 M2 PRESSWIRE

In September 2002 the Government announced plans to establish this archive that will use left over tissue from tonsils, taken out for health reasons not related to CJD. Tonsil tissue, which is usually discarded, has a high concentration of lymphoid tissue and the abnormal prion protein associated with the development of vCJD has been shown to accumulate in this tissue even before symptoms develop.

The left over tonsil tissue will be collected and stored without names so individuals cannot be identified. Patients or their parents will have the option to say if they do not want their tonsils to be used for research but it is hoped that most patients will choose to take part in this important collection of tissue.

The estimates of the possible number of people who may develop vCJD will be better if large numbers of tonsils are collected and it is planned that the archive will eventually comprise tonsil samples from at least 100,000 patients. Improving these estimates will help guide any further measures to protect public health.

Collection of samples will be organised by the Health Protection Agency (HPA) and will begin in England in December 2003. It is expected that tonsils will, in time, be collected from throughout the United Kingdom.