Prion risk from Washer disinfectors

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Dear Department of Health,

It has recently come to my attention that the DOH is in possession of evidence stating that the use of Washer Disinfectors (as recommended in document HTM 01-05) actually INCREASE the risk of Prion transmission to patients.

Washer Disinfictors are expensive, unreliable and environmentally damaging in that they greatly increase the resources required to deliver dental care. If it is also now known that they increase the risk of Prion transmission, then this calls into question the whole basis of the HTM 01-05 document.

So, in the interest of public safety, please could you tell me if the DOH is in possession of any peer reviewed evidence (stating the journal and authors, as well as the date this first came to light) that shows that the use of washer disinfectors increase the risk of Prion transmission.

Yours faithfully,

Steven Hudson BDS, MFGDP, DRDP

Department of Health and Social Care

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Dear Mr Hudson,

I am writing further to my earlier reply to your request, under the Freedom
of Information (FOI) Act on the above subject.

Due to an error on my part, I addressed your name incorrectly. Please
accept my sincerest apologies for this error.

Yours sincerely,

Deepa Shah
Freedom of Information Team
Department of Health,

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Dear Deepa Shah (Co: Department of Health,

Thank you very much for your detailed response. I am somewhat confused however.

Firstly there is this open letter to the Chief Dental Officer which clearly identifies a risk: http://www.nature.com/bdj/journal/v207/n...

But more damning is your own DOH document "Department of Health. Engineering and Science Advisory Committee into the Decontamination of Surgical Instruments Including Prion Removal. London, 2006." ..... and I quote

'...the high levels of retained protein burden after decontamination through typical NHS systems is itself a matter for concern'

I would again like to hear your thoughts?

Yours faithfully,

Steven Hudson

Department of Health and Social Care

Thank you for your email.

Where a reply is appropriate we aim to send one within 20 working days.

If your enquiry is about a medical matter, please contact NHS Direct on
0845 4647 or visit [1]NHS Choices, or contact your GP surgery.

For the latest on swine flu, please visit [2]the National Pandemic Flu
Service (NPFS) or call 0800 1 513 100.

For general health information you may also find it helpful to refer to
[3]Directgov, the UK Government's Official information website, or the
Department of Health website's [4]Frequently Asked Questions.

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Department of Health and Social Care

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