Donating blood

[Justine+David 218]

Husband and I just found out that he's not eligible to donate blood since he has lived in the UK during the years of 1980-1996. He's quite put out by this as he's donated blood quite a few times in the UK (I guess the Brits don't deny their own citizens to donate??) I understand the risk of the Creutzfeld-Jacob (mad cow) disease, but what would the Brits do for their own people if the risk was so high? Ship in donated blood around the world?

Anyone with any experience on this? I just feel pretty bad for him He says he'll just donate in the UK when he visits, but it eats me up that if we had a sick kid and he was a match, that he wouldn't be allowed to donate. I wonder if this also applies to bone marrow and organ donation...

[Lansbury 19]

Instead of worrying over rules that cannot be changed have him do something useful and donate some time to the Red Cross to help out at blood drives, or volunteer to courier blood to hospitals when it is an emergency and has to be taken there right away.

[SunDrop 59]

Husband and I just found out that he's not eligible to donate blood since he has lived in the UK during the years of 1980-1996. He's quite put out by this as he's donated blood quite a few times in the UK (I guess the Brits don't deny their own citizens to donate??) I understand the risk of the Creutzfeld-Jacob (mad cow) disease, but what would the Brits do for their own people if the risk was so high? Ship in donated blood around the world?

Anyone with any experience on this? I just feel pretty bad for him He says he'll just donate in the UK when he visits, but it eats me up that if we had a sick kid and he was a match, that he wouldn't be allowed to donate. I wonder if this also applies to bone marrow and organ donation...

You may need to check that you're still eligible to donate, since you've been physically intimate with someone who is disqualified.

My daughter can never donate in the UK, since she received a transfusion. Dunno about here, but she was very upset about it when she found out.

I think if you had a sick kid, it might be a different story.

It does apply also to bone marrow and organ donation, of course. Plasma too.

[JoannaV 173]

Lansbury is right, there are other ways he can help.

But also, I think that he could still donate to a close relative. Ie, if your kid was real sick he could be used as a donor.

Oh, and the answer to your other question: it's not an issue in the UK. There has been no proof of infection through blood. So really no risk.

Edited March 9, 2011 by JoannaV

[Justine+David 218]

Instead of worrying over rules that cannot be changed have him do something useful and donate some time to the Red Cross to help out at blood drives, or volunteer to courier blood to hospitals when it is an emergency and has to be taken there right away.

Doesn't help our kid if he/she needs it...I would take his blood over a donor's blood any day, much less risk of an adverse reaction and enormously lower risk of getting hepatitis or HIV compared to the general populace. I've given ~50 or so blood product transfusions before to patients and I have many parents decide to donate their own blood or a relative's blood products to give to their kids so that they feel safer about the transfusion.

And what about an autologous donation (when you donate your own blood to yourself, harvesting a few weeks before a surgery). Surely it's better to re-introduce his own blood rather than a stranger's. Good grief, would he have to fly over to the UK in order to have surgery there to use his own blood?

Yes, these are extreme cases, but they do exist and this unbending rule seems extraordinarily harsh, especially considering that the UK itself donates blood to its own people. Are we saying that British blood is good enough for British people but not good enough for anyone else?

By the way, rules can be changed. Apparently so many military members and their dependents were excluded from being allowed to donate blood that the Red Cross scaled the requirements back saying you had to live in certain European countries (i.e. Germany) for 5 years instead of the original 6 months rule.

I suppose what we should really do is just support research for synthetic blood products more than anything else. Then all we worry about would probably be sepsis from contamination. Maybe one day...

[elmcitymaven 9,711]

Yep, I'm not eligible either. Not a biggie -- as others have said above, donating your time and energy to the Red Cross can be a continuing effort that can pay great dividends.

You may need to check that you're still eligible to donate, since you've been physically intimate with someone who is disqualified.

I'd like to point out that this does NOT affect spouses/partners of people who lived in the UK during the dates in question -- vCJD (as the Red Cross classifies it for these purposes) is NOT sexually transmitted as far as all evidence to date has shown.

[kutakendra 3]

That is true. My fiancee is a donor in UK and was unable to donate here due to mad cow exposure. I seem to recall that I cannot donate there, either. We just have different rules. (I believe it is related to the things that each country tests for regularly, but the viruses that each of us are exposed to being different.) Oddly, he nearly died refusing a transfusion a few years back, so that it would not eliminate his ability to donate in the UK. We're all just trying to eliminate unforeseen infections, and being strict on the laws is better than being lax and missing a few infections.

(All that is pretty ironic, since our bodily fluids are pretty intertwined, at this point!)

[Y&E 12]

It's not just the US. My Kiwi father was in NZ for 2 months of 1980 and a few years ago NZ decided to change the rules so that he could not give blood. After years of doing so he became ineligible despite the likelihood of him carrying CJD being essentially nil. It's a silly rule, but I think that the medical field likes to get their knickers in a twist and protect themselves more than to just give in to common sense and proof of no transmission through blood. It's a shame for David, Justine, that as one of the rare people willing to donate blood he is denied the opportunity.

[Lansbury 19]

By the way, rules can be changed. Apparently so many military members and their dependents were excluded from being allowed to donate blood that the Red Cross scaled the requirements back saying you had to live in certain European countries (i.e. Germany) for 5 years instead of the original 6 months rule.

The Red Cross didn't scale the rule back, the rules are Federally mandated. It was whoever is in charge of blood in the government that did it.

It is not all people from the UK it is only if you resided there between certain dates. UK blood banks will not use blood sourced direct from the US, since 5000 hemophiliac patients were given HIV contaminated blood from the US some years ago now. You may think the rules are pointless, until a relative gets one of the dodgy pints from somewhere, and pays the price. Until they develop at test which is better than the current 71% detection for cjd in blood, is it worth the risk?

[Krikit 1,163]

Yeah, I felt really bad when the US refused my blood for the same reason. To add insult to injury, the HOA where I lived who was sponsoring it was giving away free meals at the clubhouse, along with draws for other prizes with each donation. Because the Blood bank refused me they did too!

Edited March 10, 2011 by Krikit

[Meg and Nigel 21]

I took a vacation a couple of years ago that disqualified me from being able to donate for one year. I cried when they told me. I feel so bad for all the UK donors that come over here and just can't any more. I feel for you all.

[Krikit 1,163]

It was a blow to my self esteem! It was like...... "What do you mean my blood isn't good enough?!!"

[Fandango 1,439]

This is funny that it's come up, because I'm dealing with it right now. Our company had a blood drive on Tuesday, and in the past, I always donated. A close family member's life was saved with donated blood, and I've always felt the need to 'pay it forward' so to speak.

I'll admit, for the longest time, I haven't made the time to go.... But I was all psyched up for Tuesday!

turns out, I'm no longer eligible. It made me feel bad. Like dirty even. 'They don't want my blood' yanno? But I'm perfectly healthy, no diseases, no nothing, thank God.

Edited March 11, 2011 by Lisa C

[Fandango 1,439]

It was a blow to my self esteem! It was like...... "What do you mean my blood isn't good enough?!!"

exactly.

[Justine+David 218]

The Red Cross didn't scale the rule back, the rules are Federally mandated. It was whoever is in charge of blood in the government that did it.

It is not all people from the UK it is only if you resided there between certain dates. UK blood banks will not use blood sourced direct from the US, since 5000 hemophiliac patients were given HIV contaminated blood from the US some years ago now. You may think the rules are pointless, until a relative gets one of the dodgy pints from somewhere, and pays the price. Until they develop at test which is better than the current 71% detection for cjd in blood, is it worth the risk?

1. My mistake. But regardless, it was a federal mandate and WAS changed. So rules can change, was my point.

2. Venturing a guess of what percentage of British people have lived in the UK area from 1980-1996, it's gotta be way over the majority--what's your point? That's really too bad about the 5,000 people who were exposed to HIV (Ryan White comes to mind, poor kid), but that number is nowhere NEAR the amount of transmissions of CJD-apples and oranges? There is ALWAYS a risk of getting an unwanted disease in blood; there is no such thing as a risk-free transfusion from strangers.

**Having said all of that, if I look at the overarching picture, is someone going to die/incur permanent damage due to David not being able to donate? Probably not. So it's a moot point.

However, my biggest beef is that I don't see why autologous donations aren't allowed despite a foreign transfusion being much more dangerous. Additionally I have beef with the risk of our future kids needing a transfusion, not allowed by the husband and therefore exposing them to an inordinately higher risk of an adverse reaction or unwanted disease due to again, being exposed to a foreign transfusion.

Edited March 12, 2011 by Justine+David