I've been curious about this. I had a small melanoma removed last summer. It only required surgery and no follow up treatments. Lymph nodes were tested but not affected. Am I eligible to give blood?

kjcAg said:

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I've been curious about this. I had a small melanoma removed last summer. It only required surgery and no follow up treatments. Lymph nodes were tested but not affected. Am I eligible to give blood?

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Melanoma is a 2 year deferral from the date of the last treatment. So just write down your surgery date and go two years and 1 day into the future and you should be good to go!

Thanks!

Is having cancer still a disqualification criteria?

I donated all the time in under grad but wasn't allowed after getting cancer in grad school.

Last I checked - years ago - MD Anderson wouldn't touch my blood even though I'm free of cancer.

Depends on the cancer.

Shoot me a pm if you don't want to disclose. I can look it up and let ya know

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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Depends on the cancer.

Shoot me a pm if you don't want to disclose. I can look it up and let ya know

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I don't mind at all. Proud to have beaten the ever loving hell out of cancer.

I had adenocarcinoma.

Had a a carcinoma tumor in my ear.

I'll check it out first thing in the morning and let ya know.

Still on the can not give list for being in England the last 6 months of 96. No test to see if someone is a carrier of CJD.

Gave a double red donation on Sunday.

Do you know what the 2 year ban based on melanoma is from?

Also is yellow fever in the past still an automatic D/Q?

No test yet.

However, there is some consideration being made by the FDA to eliminate or modify the CJd deferral.

Nothing final yet, but I am hopeful it will get done soon

hbc07 said:

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Gave a double red donation on Sunday.

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The_Thinker said:

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Do you know what the 2 year ban based on melanoma is from?

Also is yellow fever in the past still an automatic D/Q?

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I'll look up malaria rules in the morning also

I do not know off the top of my head why melanoma is a 2 yr deferral. Most cancers are all 2 year deferrals, other than leukemias which is an indefinite deferral.

Donated today at my wife's hospital in Argyle!

Maverick06 said:

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Donated today at my wife's hospital in Argyle!

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EKUAg said:

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Still on the can not give list for being in England the last 6 months of 96. No test to see if someone is a carrier of CJD.

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I've got the same deferment. Summer of '86 study abroad trips to England and Scotland. I was there just a few days over the limit.

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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No test yet.

However, there is some consideration being made by the FDA to eliminate or modify the CJd deferral.

Nothing final yet, but I am hopeful it will get done soon

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I will be in line to donate as soon as the rule is changed. Been saving up my blood.

Are there any restrictions if you've visited Africa or South America in the past year?

NICU Dad said:

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SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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Depends on the cancer.

Shoot me a pm if you don't want to disclose. I can look it up and let ya know

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I don't mind at all. Proud to have beaten the ever loving hell out of cancer.

I had adenocarcinoma.

Had a a carcinoma tumor in my ear.

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Looking at our flow chart for various cancers..

We do not have a specific line item for Adenocarcinoma, so it should fall under the more general line of " Cancer not listed ( not Leukemia or Lymphoma). As long as you finished treatment, and are cured from more than 2 years ago, you are NOT disqualified due to the previous cancer history. You still have to go through the rest of the questionnaire and health screen, but I do not see any reason that the previous bout with cancer would stop you.

That being said, it is my understanding base don anecdotal conversations that because MD Anderson is a cancer treatment center they may have more stringent rules in place, just to be extra cautious. But I do not have confirmation or definitive proof of that.

I hope you are able to donate again. Thank you for being willing to ask.

The_Thinker said:

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Do you know what the 2 year ban based on melanoma is from?

Also is yellow fever in the past still an automatic D/Q?

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Looking at the Malarial rules.

If you have been asymptomatic for more than 3 years then you are not deferred due to malaria. You would still need to go through the rest of the questionnaire and health screen to determine eligibility. But previous history with Malaria is not an automatic D/Q

Thanks!

Counterpoint said:

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Are there any restrictions if you've visited Africa or South America in the past year?

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Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Yes and........... It will depend on where you went, how long you stayed in particular places, how you traveled there ( Boat/Plane/Car) the places you stopped at while in travelling, how long you stopped at those places. etc. etc. etc.

It is based on malaria zones as established by the CDC and is broken down by the country and sometimes the cities within a country. If you wanna list them, I can cross reference each of them for you.

More than likely, most places are a 12 month deferral but hard to say just off of continents.

I had hepatitis as a kid and was told I could never donate as a result; is that true?

Bryan98 said:

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I had hepatitis as a kid and was told I could never donate as a result; is that true?

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Hep A, B or C?

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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Bryan98 said:

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I had hepatitis as a kid and was told I could never donate as a result; is that true?

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Hep A, B or C?

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Don't know, it was elementary school. Non-chronic, if that helps. No lasting effects afaik.

If it was Hep A, you are good to go.

If it was Hep B, or C it is an indefinite deferral,

If it is Hep of unknown type, it is indefinite as well.


Talk to your doc and see if you can narrow it down so that you can know whether to present to donate or not.

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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Counterpoint said:

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Are there any restrictions if you've visited Africa or South America in the past year?

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Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Yes and........... It will depend on where you went, how long you stayed in particular places, how you traveled there ( Boat/Plane/Car) the places you stopped at while in travelling, how long you stopped at those places. etc. etc. etc.

It is based on malaria zones as established by the CDC and is broken down by the country and sometimes the cities within a country. If you wanna list them, I can cross reference each of them for you.

More than likely, most places are a 12 month deferral but hard to say just off of continents.

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Ivory Coast for a week. Traveled by car within the country.

Counterpoint said:

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SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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Counterpoint said:

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Are there any restrictions if you've visited Africa or South America in the past year?

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Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Yes and........... It will depend on where you went, how long you stayed in particular places, how you traveled there ( Boat/Plane/Car) the places you stopped at while in travelling, how long you stopped at those places. etc. etc. etc.

It is based on malaria zones as established by the CDC and is broken down by the country and sometimes the cities within a country. If you wanna list them, I can cross reference each of them for you.

More than likely, most places are a 12 month deferral but hard to say just off of continents.

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Ivory Coast for a week. Traveled by car within the country.

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Thanks.

Ivory Coast is a malaria risk for all areas of the country. It is a 12 month deferral form the date you got home.

SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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Counterpoint said:

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SoulSlaveAG2005 said:

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Counterpoint said:

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Are there any restrictions if you've visited Africa or South America in the past year?

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Short answer: Yes.

Long Answer: Yes and........... It will depend on where you went, how long you stayed in particular places, how you traveled there ( Boat/Plane/Car) the places you stopped at while in travelling, how long you stopped at those places. etc. etc. etc.

It is based on malaria zones as established by the CDC and is broken down by the country and sometimes the cities within a country. If you wanna list them, I can cross reference each of them for you.

More than likely, most places are a 12 month deferral but hard to say just off of continents.

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Ivory Coast for a week. Traveled by car within the country.

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Thanks.

Ivory Coast is a malaria risk for all areas of the country. It is a 12 month deferral form the date you got home.

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Damn. But thanks for the info and for everything you're doing!

With my dad working for an oilfield service company for his entire career, we moved around the world a lot, and we happened to live in Aberdeen, Scotland from 1984-1985 when I was only 4-5 years old. I started donating blood when I was a tween / young teen in the US, but then in the mid-90's, the American Red Cross made a rule that anyone who lived in the UK in some range from the 80s through the 90s can no longer donate blood because we might have mad cow disease... so I haven't donated blood for about 25 years now. I think I'm O-neg, the universal donor, too.

That falls under the CJD variant deferral timeline.

Keep your ears attuned, there is a lot of positive pressure and information coming out that this will and could be changed soon. It may not be a blanket removal, but anything to follow the scientific evidence and safely re-admit donors into the donor pool.

I used to give blood at least couple times a year. However, my work brings me to an 'unclean' part of China a couple times a year, and you can't give blood if you've been there within the last six months. By early Summer I can donate. I'm not sure I want to go back any more.....

RAB91 said:

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I used to give blood at least couple times a year. However, my work brings me to an 'unclean' part of China a couple times a year, and you can't give blood if you've been there within the last six months. By early Summer I can donate. I'm not sure I want to go back any more.....

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I am not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but they could not pay me enough to go to China... at least for a couple of decades!

Please give in early summer. Summer is when blood banks traditionally struggle the most due to High School, colleges being out of school and businesses slowing down due to vacations.

Thanks!

I've been to several parts of China - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau, and Hong Kong. It's very impressive how technologically advanced they are in some regards, but with how quickly that country has developed and economy grown over the last few decades, it's equally unimpressive in areas like pollution ...and in China, they eat some messed up *****

oh no said:

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I've been to several parts of China - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Macau, and Hong Kong. It's very impressive how technologically advanced they are in some regards, but with how quickly that country has developed and economy grown over the last few decades, it's equally unimpressive in areas like pollution ...and in China, they eat some messed up *****

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And don't forget the split-crotch pants for toddlers and the Beijing bikini for old men.

It is hitting the news rounds... ALOT of changes just announced by the FDA.

For those of you previously deferred for vCJD -- looks like you may be in the clear. Also a huge change in other deferrals

Quote:

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MCN 20-037:
FDA Publishes Guidance Documents for Immediate Implementation

FDA recognizes that maintaining adequate levels of our nation's blood supply is critical. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to dramatic reductions in the number of donations due to social distancing and the cancellation of blood drives. To help address this critical need and increase the number of donations, the FDA announced today that based on recently completed studies and epidemiologic data, they have concluded that the current policies regarding the eligibility of certain donors can be modified without compromising the safety of the blood supply.

The policy changes the FDA announced for immediate implementation are set out in three guidance documents and are expected to remain in place after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends, however, the guidance documents state that FDA expects that the recommendations set forth in the revised guidance will continue to apply outside the context of the current public health emergency" and FDA intends to revise and replace the guidance documents within 60 days following termination of the public health emergency. Below is a brief synopsis of the changes in each document.

Revised Recommendations for Reducing the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products The primary changes in the guidance are, essentially changing deferral times from 12 to 3 months:

• Defer indefinitely anyone with a positive test for HIV
• Defer for 3 months from last event anyone who exchanged sex for money or drugs
• Defer for 3 months from last event anyone who engaged in non-prescription injection drug use
• Defer for 3 months from last event anyone who has a history of sex with anyone listed above
• Defer for 3 months from last transfusion of allogeneic transfusions of blood or components
• Defer for 3 months from last exposure individuals who had contact with blood through percutaneous inoculation such as needles stick of contact with open wound/mucous membranes
• Defer for 3 months from most recent tattoo, ear/body piercing excluding tattoos applied by a state regulated parlor using sterile needles and non-reusable ink and body piercing using single-use equipment.
• Defer for 3 months after completion of treatment an individual with history of syphilis or gonorrhea
• Defer for 3 months after most recent sexual contact of a man who had sex with another man
• Defer for 3 months after most recent sexual contact of a woman who had sex with a man who had sex with another may within the previous 3 months
• Defer indefinitely individuals with hemophilia or other related clotting factor deficiencies for donor safety reasons.

Recommendations to Reduce the Possible Risk of Transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and Variant Creutzfeldt-Jacob Disease by Blood and Blood Components Finalizes the draft guidance by same name from January 2020. The biggest change to this removes the deferral criteria for geographical risk of vCJD for U.S. military bases in Europe excluding time in U.K. from 1980-1996 (cumulative 3 months), and France or Ireland from 1980-2001 (cumulative 5 years).

Revised Recommendations to Reduce the Risk of Transfusion-Transmitted Malaria reduces deferral time for travel by individuals who have never lived in a malarial endemic area but who travel to such an area from 12 months to 3 months

The FDA also published a guidance, Alternative Procedures for Blood and Blood Components During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency, for immediate implementation for the duration of the declared public health emergency:

This guidance provides variances to allow:

• the use of units identified as unsuitable due to failure to follow procedures that do not affect safety of the safety of the donors for blood pressure, pulse, weight or donation frequency and the donation is otherwise suitable.
• release from quarantine of Source Plasma donated by paid donors 15 days earlier, 45 instead of 60 days.
• extend the time to clarify donor responses to 72 hours from date of donation.

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all that being said.. give us time to completely revise our computer qualification models, reprint all our education materials and then re-admit previously deferred donors. It will take time to implement but this is positive news for the community blood supply.