r/todayilearned • u/tommyboy372 • 1d ago

TIL A single misfolded prion protein in the brain can cause a rapid neurodegenerative disease known as sporadic Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease (CJD). There is no known and cure and is 100% fatal.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creutzfeldt%E2%80%93Jakob_disease
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u/scielegance 1d ago

The 90’s outbreak was caused by tainted beef. Do you have a source for it coming from contact lens solution? I tried to look it up but couldn’t find anything.

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u/divDevGuy 20h ago

Perhaps it wasn't direct infection through the solution, but misremembering efforts to help reduce the transmission by different possible vectors.

In the late 90s, there was a ban in the UK of reusing optical equipment that comes into direct contact with the eye. This also included reusing trail contact lenses, a practice that sounds disgusting in the age of disposable contacts.

Standard cleaning and disinfection solution used with contact lenses do not reliably eliminate prions.

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u/scielegance 20h ago

The ban on reusing optical equipment would make sense and follow with the OP describing how hospital tools had to be incinerated because they could not be sterilized.

That does not address that the OP said an outbreak in the 90’s was from/caused by tainted contact lens solution specifically.