Why am I not allowed to donate blood?

Question

I studied in Europe for four years in the 80's recently I decided to be a good citizen and donate blood (yesterday).

I was told that anyone who spent 4 years in certain countries in the 80's is not allowed to be a blood donor.

I wonder who the Europeans get their blood from?

Answer 1

obviously there is a problem with mad cow disease.

what's not known is how long you can have the infection without symptoms.

somehow i'm guessing that you'd not want blood from someone from Swaziland.

in the same way, i'd prefer that your blood not be mixed in with that national blood supply.

i'll be more than happy to grant that the comparison is not nearly fair.

but i hope you get the idea.

Answer 2

rules are rules

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Answer 3

It depends on where you lived and the cumulative time you were there.  To simply quote the American Red Cross

Any person who lived in certain parts of the world during certian times are unable to donate due to the risk of the human variant of Mad Cow Disease.  The human variant is called variant Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (vCJD) which is also a fatal brain disease. Scientists believe that vCJD is Mad Cow Disease that has somehow transferred to humans, possibly through the food chain.

There is now evidence from a small number of case reports involving patients and laboratory animal studies that vCJD can be transmitted through transfusion. There is no test for vCJD in humans that could be used to screen blood donors and to protect the blood supply. This means that blood programs must take special precautions to keep vCJD out of the blood supply by avoiding collections from those who have been where this disease is found.

At this time, the American Red Cross donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:

You are not eligible to donate if:

From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or

From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK). The UK includes any of the countries listed below.

Channel Islands

England

Falkland Islands

Gibraltar

Isle of Man

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

You were a member of the of the U.S. military, a civilian military employee, or a dependent of a member of the U.S. military who spent a total time of 6 months on or associated with a military base in any of the following areas during the specified time frames

From 1980 through 1990 - Belgium, the Netherlands (Holland), or Germany

From 1980 through 1996 - Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy or Greece.

You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, to present, in any combination of country(ies) in Europe, including

in the UK from 1980 through 1996 as listed in above

on or associated with military bases as described above, and

in other countries in Europe as listed below:

Albania

Austria

Belgium

Bosnia/Herzegovina

Bulgaria

Croatia

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Hungary

Ireland (Republic of)

Italy

Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Liechtenstein

Luxembourg

Macedonia

Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Netherlands (Holland)

Norway

Poland

Portugal

Romania

Serbia (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)

Slovak Republic (Slovakia)

Slovenia

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Turkey

Yugoslavia (Federal Republic includes Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia)