Why can’t you donate blood if you have had a transfusion in the past

[MiriamMay]

Like the woman in this BBC article, I am not able to give blood because I had a blood transfusion after giving birth.

I don’t understand why this is though. There’s been quite a bit in the news lately about there being a shortage of blood donations. I really don’t understand why having received a transfusion in the past means you can’t donate blood in the future.

BBC News

The answer to this is all over NHS and blood transfusion/organ donor websites.

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/blood-transfusion/#:~:text=Giving%20blood%20afterwards,NHS%20Blood%20and%20Transplant%20website.

Giving blood afterwards
Currently, you cannot give blood if you had a blood transfusion after 1 January 1980.
This is a precautionary measure to reduce the risk of a serious condition called variant CJD (vCJD) being passed on by donors.

There's a risk that you may have contracted vCJD. They can't test for this.

To protect the person who is receiving your blood.

Helpful 🙄

it’s because blood donated before 1980 might be contaminated with CJD (mad cow disease)

Why the rolly eyes? It is helpful, a 10 second search would have given OP the answer

I can't because they think they may have given me something (nasty) that they don't want back! Great isn't it.

You might be able to give plasma, but I think I'm too old now anyway.

i was told it’s because while the blood is
screened before use they can’t be 100% clear . Got told this after having also 70 units of blood given to me. While it saved my life it makes me worried for the future that someone has given me something.

I still don’t get that though - so the blood I received in 2017 might have been hanging around since before 1980 - before I was born?

My logic is that surely the blood I received was fine - do blood donors have a screening before they first donate? I’d assume so. So therefore if I received good blood, why can’t I donate post-transfusion?

I know someone who recently died from CJD (not vCJD) and absolutely horrendous so obviously not something to take lightly! But I don’t get it.

Am on the DKMS reg as they will have me at least!

Hmm. I did develop an autoimmune disease after blood transfusion but put that down to the trauma rather than bad blood. Agh! Darent think about it.

It's not just vCJD tbh.

There could be any number of unknown nasties lurking in anyone's blood. If it's life or death and you've lost pints of blood then you have to take that chance and take a unit, but from then on your risk of "unknown unknowns" is double that of a random person who's never had a transfusion.

Having a blood transfusion is sometimes lifesaving, but it's never risk free: that's why we do less of it than we used to, (apart from sickle cell patients).

It's blood donated after 1980

I'm also sad that I cannot donate after having my life saved by blood and plasma twice!

Also, my son had a transfusion as a premature baby so he's off the register before he can even think about it!

As a PP said it's perfectly clearly explained in many places so not sure why you're confused. I also can't due to 4 points received during an operation in 1990 (when I was 14). Them's the breaks 🤷‍♀️

I think I had a relative who died of CJD. It was treated as a “mystery illness” when he became ill in the early 70s. He had all the CJD symptoms and he worked in a very rural chicken slaughtering plant. It was literally a huge shed where chicken were killed, gutted, plucked, whatever they do, all in the same place. He became ill quite suddenly, deteriorated rapidly. The explanation his parents were given was that his brain was becoming “jelly” because of fluid and this fluid was taking over his brain. This was nearly 50 years ago, he had been transferred to a London hospital where he died after a few years of being ill. ( maybe 2- 2.5 years?)

OP I can’t donate either, had a couple of transfusions and have fibromyalgia. Thanks to everyone who can and does donate blood — I’m very grateful for the several pints of blood that helped me.

I would think because of the Infected Blood Enquiry, the rules and regs have been severely tightened to prevent anything so shocking happening again. You were given blood to save your life so presumably the decision wasn't that hard for you to make - did you sign a disclaimer in advance? It's all a bit weird, I've had cancer and was told to come off the Donor Register but now I'm told I can go back on because there'll always be 'unaffected bits' they can use!

@DannSindWirHelden explained it well.

It's because although they do test blood for things like hepatitis etc, the tests aren't 100% and in emergency situations, they don't always get to run all the tests on donated blood that they usually would.

Seeing the infected blood scandal unfold & the devastation that caused I think the rules are sensible & proportionate.

There is enough safe blood donated. When stocks run low then there is a campaign to increase donations. Blood stocks never run so low that peoples lives are at risk.

You also can't donate if you've ever had cancer which must reduce the number of donors massively as 1 in 3 of us will have. (I appreciate the majority of those will be too old to donate by the time they get cancer, but it must still be a significant number.

I was given blood in 1988 when i was pregnant with my son, 3 units, I have always wondered, and cant find any answers, but does that mean he cant give blood either, in fact what about all my children who came after?

But yet you can be an organ donor if you have had cancer. Doesn't make much sense.

I still don’t understand why people who had transfusions before 1980 can donate… assuming back then there were even fewer tests, they could have anything swimming around in their blood?

To be fair, mumsnet would be much quieter if people just googled what can easily be googled! But we’d miss all the additional insights people bring.

I received a blood donation ten years ago after a horrific birth so can't donate - but was asked to donate bone marrow after that to help a close relative? I didn't as it turned out, as I wasn't a match - not sure why I can donate bone marrow (which forms blood cells) and not blood, though?

I agree that it's a bit odd, but it's highly unlikely to have CJD in it, which was the original thinking behind the ban, and frankly anything else lurking that's not done them any serious harm in 45 years is probably safe enough.

Really????

Emergency blood, goes through as many tests as any other blood that is donated!