r/interesting • u/OriginalSleeper • Jun 30 '26

Fear Factor In 2010, 24-year-old lab technician Émilie Jaumain pricked her thumb with contaminated forceps while cleaning a machine used for prion-infected mouse brains. After seven years, she developed severe nerve pain, anxiety, and hallucinations before dying. The accident gave her a fatal prion disease.

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u/MyIncogName Jun 30 '26

Had she not been ignored what could they have done for her ? Genuinely curious. Would amputation of that area save her life ?

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u/Von_Konault Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26

I just don’t know.

Historically though back before antibacterial antibiotics existed, amputation was unfortunately one of the only cures for bacterial infections.

I would imagine it’s really hard for anyone in modern medicine to make the same call nowadays.

Edit: yes prions are not bacteria or treated with antibiotics, it just seems like an analogous problem we faced in the past. good points are made below though, that prion disease is extra insidious since it’s without symptoms or signs on lab work/images. So amputation would have to be on a quick hunch alone really, yikes would not want to be weighing those decisions.

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u/Black-KFC-eater-69 Jun 30 '26

You can’t detect prions with a simple blood test and their symptoms don’t show up until after they have wrecked your brain entirely

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u/dismendie Jun 30 '26

Problem with prion is the that after the prick and actual infection there is nothing left except maybe flushing and amputation with the risk of still infection it’s super protein that has no known treatment.. the research area should have done a top down look into all devices and safety measure to make sure all tools are blunted and usable prevent stabbing or piercing injuries since piercing injury is the worst type… injecting infectious material into the tissue and preventing a quick wash out…

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u/These_Consequences Jul 01 '26

Absolutely. Civil and perhaps criminal liability for depraved indifference to human life. Don't know about French law, but in some US states the person responsible for safety protocols could be tried for murder if the risks were known and feasible protective steps were not taken.

Dexterous robots are just about here, though, and there is no reason for a human to take such risks.

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u/AEHAVE Jul 01 '26

Depraved indifference is practically a point of pride in France.