Lancet
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Epidemiological surveillance of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) was reinstituted in the UK in 1990 to identify any changes in the occurrence of this disease after the epidemic of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in cattle. ⋯ These cases appear to represent a new variant of CJD, which may be unique to the UK. This raises the possibility that they are causally linked to BSE. Although this may be the most plausible explanation for this cluster of cases, a link with BSE cannot be confirmed on the basis of this evidence alone. It is essential to obtain further information on the current and past clinical and neuropathological profiles of CJD in the UK and elsewhere.
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A winter excess of ischaemic stroke has been found in mortality and hospital-based studies. It is often assumed that this is due to seasonal variation in stroke incidence and several pathophysiological explanations have been proposed. We studied the incidence of stroke in relation to season and outside temperature. ⋯ The widely reported winter excess of ischaemic strokes may be an artifact due to referral bias in hospital-based studies and increased case fatality during the winter in mortality studies.