why can't i donate blood anymore

Other reasons you may not be able to donate blood:

• You’ve experienced hepatitis or jaundice in the last year
• You’ve had certain types of cancer, or are being treated for cancer. Blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma and...
• A member of your family has Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease
• You’ve been taking certain acne medications, such as antibiotics

Full Answer

What conditions disqualify you from donating blood?

Jan 08, 2018 · Other reasons you may not be able to donate blood: You’ve experienced hepatitis or jaundice in the last year You’ve had certain types of cancer, or are being treated for cancer. Blood cancers like leukemia or lymphoma and... A member of your family has Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease You’ve been taking ...

What are the reasons why a person cannot donate blood?

Answer (1 of 3): Hi. AB blood group can donate, but only to individuals with AB blood group. The reason is that people with the AB blood type have both the A and B antigens on their RBCs. Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the ABO grouping system, …

What are some reasons to not donate blood?

Jan 14, 2022 · General health issues that won’t allow people to donate blood. Having a fever (above 99.5°F) or an acute infection at the time of donation, or feeling unwell, having a cold, flu, or trouble breathing. Receiving a tissue or organ transplant of living animal tissue or a dura matter (brain covering) transplant.

What drugs prevent blood donation?

Jan 01, 2007 · May 21, 2001 (Washington) -- In an attempt to protect the nation's blood supply from mad cow disease, the American Red Cross said Monday that starting in September, people who have spent three...

How often can you donate blood?

Most healthy individuals will have no problem donating blood, and can do it as often as once every eight weeks. However, there are a select few who are not able to donate their blood, and the reasons why may surprise you.

How long do you have to wait to donate blood?

If they lived in a malaria-risk country for more than five years, they are asked to wait three years after returning to the U.S. before donating blood.

How long does it take to donate blood after skin cancer?

Skin cancers where the cancer has been completely removed do not need a 12 month waiting period. However, individuals who have had blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, are not eligible to ever donate blood.

How much blood do you need to donate?

Body Size. In order to donate blood you must have at least 3400 mL of blood volume. Blood volume is determined by body weight and height, and individuals with low blood volumes may not tolerate losing so much blood. This means that generally, males must be at least 4’10” tall and weigh at least 111 pounds.

How long after getting a tattoo can you donate blood?

Due to concerns about hepatitis, in Georgia, Idaho, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wyoming, and the District of Columbia donors are asked to wait a year after getting a tattoo and a year after getting a piercing from a “questionable source” before donating blood.

How much weight do you have to be to be a woman?

For women, it's a bit more complicated. Generally, you must weight at least 110 pounds, but women shorter than 5’5” must be heavier in order to meet the weight requirement, Life Share reported. 4'10" = 139 pounds. 4'11" = 135 pounds. 5' = 131 pounds.

Can you donate blood with Coumadin?

Those who have a health condition where their blood doesn't clot normally, or are on anticoagulant medications such as Coumadin (warfarin), should not donate blood as they may have excessive bleeding where the needle was placed. However, according to the ARC they are not automatically disqualified from donating blood.

How long does it take to donate blood?

It only takes 20 minutes to help someone in urgent need, but not everyone is actually eligible to be a blood donor. Red blood cells, plasma, and platelets are the lifeline for medical treatments needed by patients all across the country, and keeping up the supply is an ongoing struggle.

How to make a blood donation appointment?

Blood donation appointments can be made by applying at redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733 -2767). Blood donors need to be 17 or older and must have a blood donor card or driver’s license, or two other forms of identification.

How long do you have to wait to donate a piercing?

If you’ve recently had a tattoo, piercing, semi-permanent make-up –any treatment that pierces the skin -- you will need to wait at least four months before being eligible to donate. The primary reason is to prevent transferring the hepatitis virus.

How much weight do you need to donate antibiotics?

4. You don’t weigh enough. Donors need to weigh at least 110 pounds and be in generally good health. Donors under the age of 18 also have to meet specific weight and height requirements.

Is the Red Cross accepting blood donations?

One claim circulating online recently alleges the American Red Cross is not accepting blood donations from people who have received COVID-19 vaccines. “American Red Cross reports that vaccinated people cannot ...

Is there a deferral time for blood donors?

The American Red Cross states on its website that “there is no deferral time for eligible blood donors who are vaccinated with a non-replicating inactivated or RNA-based COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by AstraZeneca, Janssen/J&J, Moderna, Novavax, or Pfizer.”.

Why do people with AB blood have both A and B antigens?

Karl Landsteiner, who discovered the ABO grouping system, stated a law saying “if an antigen is present on the red cell surface, the corresponding antibody is absent in the plasma.

Can a type O and a type AB parent have a type O offspring?

There is a rare blood group known as cis-AB. Because one allele is AB and the other is O, they can have offspring that type either AB or O. Typically, an type O and a type AB parent cannot have a type O offspring. That is because a type O has a genotype O/O.

Can a person with 0 receive blood from other people?

A person with group 0 can only receive blood from other people with group 0, because both A and B groups are antigens that will cause reactions and bloodclots and whatnot. A person with AB has both A and B, so she can receive blood from anyone, she’s a universal recipient.

Can AB blood be universal?

Those with AB blood type are sometimes reffered as universal recipients because they can accept blood from anymore. However, because of the presence of both antigens on type AB red blood cells , People with AB blood can only d. Continue Reading.

Is Bombay a blood type?

There is a rare type known as a Bombay. Normally the parents would have H antigen, irregardless of blood type, because H is a precursor to ABO antigens. If the parents were both type H/h than the child could be Bombay (h/h). Thus the child would be either type A or type B, but would appear to be a type O.

Is AB blood rare?

The AB blood type is rare as the gene for B is rare in the human population , and the recessive O gene is very common. Less than 15% of the US has B or AB blood. Most of the people with B blood have only one gene for B with the other being the recessive O gene.

Can a Rh positive parent have a Rh negative child?

Rh positive parents can have a child that is Rh negative. That is because Rh (D, specifically) can be heterozygous. If both parents have a genotype of D/d then there is a small chance their child could be Rh negative (d/d). Source: The cis-AB blood group phenotype: fundamental lessons in glycobiology.

Who can donate blood?

According to the American Red Cross, you can donate blood under the following circumstances:

Who cannot donate blood?

There are certain health conditions, life circumstances, and travel experiences that mean you cannot donate blood. We’ll run through those here.

What medications will prevent you from donating blood?

Most over-the-counter (OTC) medications will not prevent you from donating blood. If you take prescription medications, check out this list from the American Red Cross to see if you can still donate blood.

Can you donate blood if you received the COVID-19 vaccine?

In short, yes. If you took the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA based) or Johnson and Johnson’s COVID shot (inactivated virus), you can donate blood. If you received another kind of COVID vaccine, or were vaccinated outside of the U.S., ask the donor site if you still qualify.

What is Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease and why does it matter for blood donors?

Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) is an infectious brain disease that can pass from animals to humans. The equivalent illness in cows is called “Mad Cow Disease.” vCJD can rarely be passed through blood transfusions.

How do I prepare to donate blood?

First, go online and find a drive. You will enter your location, and a list of donation locations will appear. You will be able to choose a time slot, and make an appointment to donate blood online.

What happens after blood donation?

Your blood donation will be taken to a laboratory and will be tested for several things — the first is blood type. The different blood types are: A, B, AB, and O. All blood types are eligible for blood donation.

When did the government ban blood donations?

Last year, the federal government banned blood donations from anyone who spent a total of six months in Britain between 1980 and 1996, when that country was the epicenter of the mad cow outbreak.

When did the Red Cross stop giving blood?

May 21, 2001 (Washington) -- In an attempt to protect the nation's blood supply from mad cow disease, the American Red Cross said Monday that starting in September, people who have spent three months in Britain or six months in the rest of Europe can no longer donate blood to the organization.

How long does it take for a mad cow to die?

Infected animals act crazy, or "mad," displaying changes in mood such as nervousness or agitation and having difficulty standing up, and usually die within two weeks to six months. Mad cow disease seems to spread to people through eating infected beef.

How long has a person lived in Europe?

Anyone who has lived anywhere in Europe for a total of six months since 1980. Anyone who has received a blood transfusion in the U.K. The new rules are much stricter than those recommended by the FDA, although according to a report from Monday's Wall Street Journal, the federal regulators are still discussing policy on mad cow disease and ...

Why did the Red Cross present a plan to the FDA?

Healy notes the Red Cross also has presented a plan to the FDA to address the shortage risks that the new rules could cause. "We have an obligation to compensate for that," Healy says. She notes her organization has presented to the FDA its four-point plan to bring in more blood.

Is the Red Cross safe?

But its blood banks may not say or imply that their blood is safer than those collected by banks following the government standards.

Is the Red Cross making restrictions on blood donation?

But for now, the Red Cross is making its new donation restrictions.

How old do you have to be to donate blood?

You are pregnant. You have sickle cell disease (you're OK if you just have sickle cell trait). You have AIDS. You are engaged in ANY hypodermic drug use. You are younger than 17 years old (the minimum age requirement varies from state to state; in some states, you can donate blood at age 16, but not all).

How many days ago did you give blood?

You weigh less than 110 pounds. You gave blood fewer than 56 days ago, platelets fewer than a week ago, plasma less then 28 days ago, or double red cells fewer than 112 days ago.

How much does a double red cell donator weigh?

. . You are shorter than 5"1' if you're male, and shorter than 5"5' if you're female. You are female and weigh less than 150 pounds. You are male and weigh less than 130 pounds. You will probably have noticed that some requirements vary based on state or ...

What does low hemoglobin mean?

Low hemoglobin/hematocrit: This means that you've got an iron deficiency- aka anemia. If you want to avoid getting caught up in this, eat a lot of meat, green vegetables, and seafood, and consider taking iron supplements.

Can you donate blood without screening?

Blood Donation Restrictions You Will Only Discover Upon Initial Screening. Before you get to donate blood, you will have to go through a preliminary screening process to make sure that you are fit to give.