It's amazing that there is anyone in the UK elligible to give blood!

The wife just commented that someone at work today had said she had been turned down to give blood because she’s had a blood transfusion since 1980. I thought that was ridiculous so we checked out the Health Check[/url] on the National Blood Transfusion website and it turns out that you’d pretty much have had to have lived in a hemetically sealed box for the last 30 years in order to be able to donate!

I’m guessing that it’s CJD that’s the issue, but if that’s the case, then why doesn’t the exclusion extend to anyone who might be infected (i.e. anyone who has eaten beef in the last however many years).

I failed those questions early on as I gave blood 8weeks ago 8)

yep me too, last thursday for me. 🙂

Not giving till 23rd Jan here.

Only time I failed the questions was after a trip to NYC, I’d only been back 10 days and thats not enough apparently

Yep I’m O rh- which means they can give my blood to almost anyone, next donation Jan 3rd!

I fail on a few points there. Want to give blood as they used to tell you your blood type

looks like the US immigration questionnaire:

“Are you a terrorist?”

Not all are automatic fails, there are some there that just mean they have to ask some extra questions before you donate.

I do find it ridiculous though that you could be a homosexual man in a stable relationship with no other risk factors and be turned away while you could have dozens of risky heterosexual relationships and be fine.

Reminds me, I need to book up to go again.

i can.

not really that surprising the questions, mostly about sex and drug intake which is fair enough I suppose

Just run through the list. Seems I’m clear should I decide to go. O Rh+, although my dad was AB+, IIRC.

In real life* I failed on the malaria test – got it 16 years ago, and apparently still have antibodies floating around, so no donation for me….

Shame, as I think it’s important.

*EDIT – I ignored the online test, and just went along to a donation day at work. Found out later by letter that I’d failed.

I’m guessing that it’s CJD that’s the issue, but if that’s the case, then why doesn’t the exclusion extend to anyone who might be infected (i.e. anyone who has eaten beef in the last however many years).

If you assume everyone has a small (e.g. 1 in 1,000,000) probability of carrying an undetectable transmissible disease such as CJD, then if you’ve had a transfusion you can (approximately) increase that probability by the number of units. So five units means you’ve got around 6 in 1,000,000 probability, etc. (Numbers are made up).

I can’t, summut to do with my diseased lungs and upsetting white blood cells? Husband therefore donates for both of us but bless him he’s not much of a bleeder sometimes so they don’t have much success

O Rh+, although my dad was AB+, IIRC.

😯

Hopefully you aren’t recalling correctly. Otherwise you might want to have a little chat with your mum.

Not allowed for various reasons

Been to west africa recentl?

Had jabs for world wide travel

“In the last 12 months have you had sex with anyone who may ever have had sex in parts of the world where AIDS/HIV is very common (this includes most countries in Africa)? “

Yes, I have in the last 12 months had sex with my wife who I had also sex with in a part of the world where AIDS/HIV is very common. For that reason I am apparently not allowed to give blood. Hmmmm.

I failed on 4 weeks plus in South America, having Malaria (still there, the treatment is no fun and I can deal with the symptoms now – gets less bad as time goes by in my experience and I have been living with it coming up 17 years now!).

I knew this anyway, tried to give blood a few years back and was told never to darken their doors again! Would actually like to be able to donate, but I guess I just have to live with that.

no problems here, but when i donated last week they were using the new lounger style seats rather than the usual flat beds, this had the effect of my donation coming out in about 1 second flat* and me whiteying like a girl.
*possible exaggeration

Well, I dunno about the rest of the questions here in Oz, but one of the first is “have you spent more than x months in the UK?”

As far as the crims are concerned, we all have CJD 🙄

I failed 🙁

I can donate in the UK, and do when I can.*

In Holland I can’t donate because I spent more than 18 months in the UK during the 1980’s and therefore probably have mad cow disease.

* and when I get organised to do it 😳

That’s a fairly comprehensive list.
“Have you ever been given money or drugs for sex? “

Does breakfast count?

They won’t take mine either. Which is odd because the only thing in their list that I’ve done, is receive blood from their stocks about 6 years ago. If it’s not safe, why did you give it to me? Surely putting some of the same blood back in can’t be any worse?

As far as the crims are concerned, we all have CJD

The US have the same rule

Not allowed. Metastatic cancer patients are considered a risk.

Yep, they don’t want my blood either – malignant melanoma.

Trying to get my club to donate.
Ar- falls out of me.

They won’t take mine either. Which is odd because the only thing in their list that I’ve done, is receive blood from their stocks about 6 years ago. If it’s not safe, why did you give it to me?

This was my point – is it just a probability question? Plus how do you know if you had a transfusion during an operation or not? I’ve had both clavicals plated over the last four years but I don’t recall being told I would also have a transfusion.

Slight hijack:

I have only given blood once within a few days of my 18th birthday (1977). I was left feeling really tired for about 9 months – my running came to an almost dead stop, no energy for exercise. Although I mostly got over it within the year I still fill a sort of weariness and I am in my early 50’s now. I did go to a doctor at the time and given a tonic and occasional blood tests over the years have not uncovered anything. Anybody else heard of this? Any of our health professionals like to comment?

I have never given blood since as I don’t want to go through it again, though O may be over reacting again.

Now you know why ladies get grumpy every so often…

I think that blaming a blood donation for feeling tired from being 18 to being 50 odd points to a lack of knowledge and a wee bit of silliness.

O Neg here. The form’s a breeze – I just tick “no” against everything…

Donating today in Bishopsgate.

Blackhound whoa. Could it have been a viral infection/contamination?

I am a medical professional (Degree from the University of Sierra Leone)

I applied to my next local donation yesterday and there’s no room 🙁
Must have been the BBC article giving people a kick, which is great. I’ll try booking in to the next one.

O RH+
I’ve always donated and even donated platelets every 4-5weeks for a number of years too. I’m only just eligible again after a lot of travelling just over a year ago now.

Personally I usually cycle to/from my donations (not my first half a dozen) and haven’t ever had any trouble, but I know it really seems to affect some people. One of my mates has tried twice but felt really faint for a long time afterwards. so was told to not come back again, which he was really disappointed about as he really want to be able to do it.

There’s a massive percentage of the population that can but don’t which is a shame.

Hope you’ve all got donor cards too (those of you than can/believe in it), remember we have to opt in at the moment, if you don’t have one /aren’t on the list they won’t.

I got told last time that as I haven’t been exposed to some particular antibody or other so my blood gets given to newborns. I’ve never heard of this before and I expect they’ve started telling that to occasional donaters to make them feel guilty about not donating very often.

I’m eligible to and as such have donated ten or twelve times in the past but I don’t bother anymore as they just simply don’t seem to need it down here.
The last time I called to make an appointment (early December), after being reminded by the ‘we run low at Christmas’ tv adverts, I was told they had no appointments available on any day or at any time for 8 weeks!!

The form is to protect the likely slightly ill people it is given to (although yeah some questions are a bit overkill i.e. sex with your wife in Africa is unlikely to get you Aids anymoreso than sex with your wife in the UK!)

But hey there are free biscuits at stake if there wasn’t some selection criteria then everyone would be in for the free biscuits!

Pint 17 last week.

100 %

Thank you

You may still be able to donate blood. For more information, please call our 24 hour helpline on

0300 123 23 23.

quite an obvious ‘no’ to nearly all of those questions, the only ones I answered ‘yes’ to was the first and the last.

Kev

The last time I called to make an appointment (early December), after being reminded by the ‘we run low at Christmas’ tv adverts, I was told they had no appointments available on any day or at any time for 8 weeks!!

I do give blood regularly, and usually book the next appointment while I’m there giving blood, but it always astonishes me how far in advance these sessions get booked up. I don’t understand why they don’t put more sessions on (or even permanent a set-up in local hospitals).

The ‘bloodmobile’ comes around to work every so often, usually for two days and they could stay there for two weeks and still not get all the blood that people are willing to donate, so I wonder whether there is a genuine shortage or if it’s just underfunded.

I managed 12 donations over a 5 year period. No longer allowed to donate (hypothyroidism). I figure I’m still12 pints in credit.

Actually used to enjoy donating and always a bit disappointed that they hide the bag underneath the bed so you can’t see it filling up. Seeing the tube pulse as it goes over your wrist is kind of cool too.

Donating never made a jot of difference to how I felt, didn’t used to let on that I’d be biking home as they tended to disapprove!

Edit: Nottingham used to have a permanent blood donations place, not sure if it’s still there, but it’s where I used to go

samuri – Member
That’s a fairly comprehensive list.
“Have you ever been given money or drugs for sex? “

Does breakfast count?

😀

+1