The High council for public health (HCSP) has reviewed the action to be taken in the event of accidents involving exposure to prions and propagons and in the context of care involving invasive procedures.

This concerns :

• accidents involving exposure to prions and propagons and care involving invasive procedures, based on two recent accidents involving prion research laboratory staff in France, which led to a moratorium on research in this sector.
• An update on the differences between French and foreign recommendations on exposure accidents, including the recommendation for bleeding from a skin break in foreign recommendations.

After a review of prion diseases, data on propagons, the management of prion exposure accidents and the standard prion protocol (PSP), the HCSP issues recommendations on propagons, exposure accidents and the standard prion protocol.

These include:

• With regard to propagons, further scientific investigations should be carried out in order to better characterise the possible infectious risk associated with propagons.
• With regard to exposure accidents, a procedure to be followed in the event of skin or eye exposure to high-risk material or tissue, particularly in laboratories working with prions.
• With regard to the standard prion protocol (PSP), to ensure that the applicable risk prevention measures described in instruction 449 remain applicable and to encourage healthcare establishments and professionals to maintain and step up screening of patients and procedures at risk; and to extend the deadline for implementing PSP V2018 for a minimum of three years, until the end of 2026.