Topic: National Hormone and Pituitary Program (NHPP): Information for People Treated with Pituitary Human Growth Hormone (Comprehensive Report)
Question: What are the treatments for National Hormone and Pituitary Program (NHPP): Information for People Treated with Pituitary Human Growth Hormone (Comprehensive Report) ?
Answer: People treated with pituitary hGH in other countries also got CJD. HHS doctors share information with doctors around the world about health issues such as CJD and read reports about CJD and other health problems related to pituitary hGH treatment.
                
Country    Number of CJD Cases Reported*    Number of Individuals Treated    Source of hGH in Reported Cases        New Zealand***    6    159    United States        France    119    1,700    France        United Kingdom    75    1,849    United Kingdom        Holland    2    unpublished    Holland        Brazil    2    unpublished    United States         Australia    1**    608    Australia        Austria    1    unpublished    pharmaceutical (commercial)        Qatar    1    unpublished    France        Ireland    1    unpublished    Not known
                
*as of November 2014
                
**This case has been recognized by the Australian surveillance authorities as a "possible" (albeit unlikely) CJD case.
                
***New Zealand has reported six people with CJD among 159 who received pituitary hGH. All six were among 49 people who received pituitary hGH made by the U.S. lab that supplied most NHPP pituitary hGH before 1977. We don't know why this ratesix out of 49 (12.2 percent)is so high in those in New Zealand who received American hormone. HHS scientists believe that this U.S.-made hormone did not undergo the same filtering process used in the United States when the hormone was put into vials. In addition, some hormone preparations sent to New Zealand were not distributed in the United States.
                
New Zealand has little information on the hormone preparations used to treat the people who got CJD. Information provided to the HHS from medical authorities in New Zealand indicated the following dates of pituitary hGH treatment for the six New Zealand patients who developed CJD: 1964 to 1966, 1964 to 1970, 1965 to 1972, 1966 to 1972, 1967 to 1969, and 1970 to 1973. With no common period of treatment, it is unlikely that a single preparation exposed all six patients to CJD.
                
There is some information on the hormone sent to New Zealand from the lab that also produced hormone for the NHPP before 1977. Some preparations and components of preparations were used in both countries and others were distributed only in the United States or in New Zealand.
                
The time between the start of pituitary hGH treatment and the first sign of CJD symptoms was similar in the 29 United States patients (14 to 44 years) and the six New Zealand patients (17 to 37 years). The New Zealand patients who got CJD were treated with pituitary hGH for an average of 4.3 years. In the United States, average treatment time was 8.4 years in patients who got CJD.
                
In France, 119 people with CJD were among the 1,700 treated with pituitary hGH. The pattern of exposure to CJD in France is very different from the pattern in the United States. In France, people who received pituitary hGH in 1984 and 1985 appear to be at highest risk for CJD. We have learned from animal studies that when scientists injected a greater amount of CJD infectious agent into an animal, it took less time for CJD to develop. Because of the larger number of people with CJD and shorter times between treatment and CJD onset in France, the level of infection in French hormone was probably higher than in the U.S. hormone. The purification procedure used in France differed from that begun in 1977 in the United States.
                
The United Kingdom has reported 75 people with CJD among 1,849 who received pituitary hGH. Experts have also found CJD in two people in Holland, two people in Brazil, and one each in Australia, Austria, Qatar, and Ireland. France, the United Kingdom, Holland, and Australia made their own hormone. The Brazilian patients got pituitary hGH from a U.S. lab that also made NHPP hormone before 1977. This was a different lab than the U.S. lab that made hormone for New Zealand. The Qatar patient received pituitary hGH made in France. The Austrian patient received pituitary hGH made by a pharmaceutical company. Four Australian women developed CJD after receiving other human pituitary hormones as fertility treatments.
Source: NIDDK