From Heather Dickinson, Royal Victoria Infirmary
The statement “Childhood leukaemia is probably an infectious disease” above
your article about childhood leukaemia, population mixing and infections was
incorrect and likely to cause distress to children with leukaemia and their
families.
Leo Kinlen’s theory, which our research supports, is that childhood leukaemia
might result from a rare response to a common but unidentified infection, and
that there is an increased risk of such infections when previously separate
populations mix. This is very different from saying that childhood leukaemia
itself is an infectious disease.
If people are led to believe that childhood leukaemia is an infectious
disease, they are likely to avoid contact with children suffering from
leukaemia, which could increase the isolation, suffering and distress of these
children and their families. I cannot emphasise strongly enough that there is no
evidence whatsoever that childhood leukaemia is infectious.
Newcastle upon Tyne
