The AFU and Urban Legend Archive Medical blood donation procedures Select a topic - - - - - - - - Home Searches AFU FAQ - - - - - - - - AFU Animals Books Celebrities Classic Collegiate Death Disney Drugs Food GIF Language Legal Medical Misc Movies Politics Products Religion Science Sex Songs TV - - - - - - - - Other sites

Subject:      Re: Blood donation screening
From:         dillo@jackalope.demon.co.uk (Lizz Braver)
Date:         1996/01/23
Newsgroups:   alt.folklore.urban

In article <4duo0l$ghi@theorem.math.rpi.edu>, nebusj@theorem.math.rpi.edu
says...

>
> Sounds like Mass General is looser than the places I've donated at,
>which have asked if you have had sex with a prostitute (or various
>other ways of saying 'prostitute' in case you don't know what one is, I
>guess) since 1977, which I think is about when the earliest nonisolated
>cases have been backdated to, isn't it?
>

I worked for the American Red Cross, Southwest Region, Blood Services, for three years. I can tell you a bit about the whys of the questions.

Hepatitis is asked about for obvious reasons. However, if you had hepatitis before the age of 11, it is very doubtful that it was Hep B, so you may donate in that case. Otherwise, any sort of hepatitis merits a permanent deferral, because a donor may be mistaken as to the type of his hepatitis. It is also necessary to discriminate between hepatitis and jaundice, which can be caused by many different conditions. Jaundice alone is not a deferrable condition.

Use of IV drugs, even once, is a permanent deferral. Sharing needles is a great way to transmit hepatitis and/or AIDS. This behavior is common amongst junkies. ARC is very conservative about IV drug use.

If you've had sex with an IV drug user in the past year, you are deferred until a year from the last sexual contact. A person will usually convert from a neg to a positive blood test within 6 months, but again, it pays to be conservative. If you are married to a former IV drug user, you may not give if you maintain normal marital relations. Using a condom is not considered safe.

Clotting factor for hemophilia is asked about, since 1977. 1977 is ten years before routine AIDS testing began, and seems to be the longest that people go between seroconversion and actual onset of AIDS. Clotting factor used to be made with plasma that was not heat-treated; this allowed many hemophiliacs to get AIDS. Having sex with a person that takes clotting factor earns a one year deferral since last sexual contact.

Human growth hormone used to be made from the pituitary glands of cadavers,so there was a risk for transmission of Jacob-Creuzfelt syndrome (a slow virus that causes brain damage and death). Nowadays HGH is made from recombinant DNA, and is no longer a risk.

The possibility of exposure to HIV/AIDS is asked about in many different questions. A man having sex with another man since 1977, a woman having sex with a man who has had sex with another man, having sex with a prostitute of either sex since 1977, or being given money or drugs for sex since 1977, are all inquired after. Exposure is defined as body fluid to body fluid contact--sex, sharing razors or toothbrushes, cuts or needle sticks with unsterile needles, for example. Living in a household with a HIV/AIDS patient, and casual contact, is NOT considered an exposure. There must be some sort of body fluid risk involved. Again, sex with condoms is not considered safe.

Tattoos are asked about, since it is possible to get hepatitis through the reuse of needles, or the use of a bottle of ink for more than one person. This deferrment is for 1 year since the tattoo was acquired.

Of course, all of this is useless if you aren't telling the truth. ARC provides for donor confidentiality by using bar code stickers, applied by the donor in private, that indicate whether there is any doubt that the blood should be used. This way, you can go completely through the donation process, even give the blood, but tell us that the blood is not to be used. These bar codes are not read on site, but once the blood gets to the Central Testing Laboratory. Any unit of blood with a "Do Not Use" bar code is pulled out of the line and destroyed immediately, no questions asked. If you say your blood isn't safe, we believe you. That is about the only thing that we trust you on.

When I left ARC in April of '95, the testing window for HIV infection had been refined to less than a month after contact.

Are people honest? In my experience, I think so. I have had potential donors admit to IV drug use, prostitution, homosexuality, the lot. A great effort is made to keep these people from feeling that we are judging their behavior--we are not--but the blood supply needs to be safe. Most of my deferred donors were understanding about the precautions we had to take.

We also asked our donors not to donate in order to be tested. While our tests were very good, and always improving, nothing and no one is infallible. We referred all inquiries to community resources that provide free, confidential testing.

When my middle son was born in 1989, he weighed 1 lb, 8 oz (680 gms). He had several blood transfusions while in the neonatal intensive care unit. I had folks ask me, "Well, aren't you afraid he'll get AIDS?" My reply was always, "No. I'm afraid he's going to die." He is 6 years old now, and there is no sign of infection. Would I let any member of my family get transfusions now, after working at ARC? Absolutely.

Elizabeth Sheldon Braver, R.N.