Malaria is transmitted by the bite of mosquitoes found in certain countries and can be transmitted to patients through blood transfusion. Blood donations are not tested for malaria because there is no sensitive blood test available for malaria. Wait 3 years after completing treatment for malaria.
Even just one malaria parasite in donated blood can lead to malaria being transmitted to the blood recipient, which could cause severe illness and even death. For this reason, people who have had malaria are not eligible to donate whole blood or platelets.
Since 1999, the FDA had prohibited donations from these individuals out of fear they could transmit variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), commonly referred to as mad cow disease. But after extensive research and reassessment, the FDA determined the risk is now negligible.
It depends where you've travelled – most commonly, either you may only be able to donate plasma for a period, or you may be able to donate blood or plasma immediately. The best thing to do is double check before you book. Check the travel page to see when you can donate.
Papua New Guinea (including docking in a port even if you don't leave the ship, but not including airport terminals) has a risk of relapsing malaria. That means that even if you test negative for antibodies, we'll only be able to use the plasma part of your donation for three years after your return.
AB negative is the rarest of the eight main blood types - just 1% of our donors have it. Despite being rare, demand for AB negative blood is low and we don't struggle to find donors with AB negative blood. However, some blood types are both rare and in demand.
If you have traveled or lived in a malaria-risk country, a waiting period is required before you can donate blood. Wait 3 years after completing treatment for malaria. Wait 3 months after returning from a trip to an area where malaria is found.
FDA Screening Guidelines
Most travelers to an area with malaria are deferred from donating blood for 3 months after their return (previously one year). Former residents of areas where malaria is present will be deferred for 3 years.
There used to be a rule preventing people who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996 from giving blood in Australia, but it was changed on 25 July 2022. The rule was related to the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD, the human form of the bovine condition sometimes known as 'mad cow disease').
Life circumstances that mean you can't donate blood
You have a history of injection drug use, or needle use to take any drugs that were not prescribed by your healthcare provider in the last 3 months. You have taken or given money or other payment for sex in the last 3 months.
Yes, you can donate blood if you have tattoos
If you got a tattoo in the last three months, it is completely healed, and was applied by a state-regulated facility, which uses sterile needles and fresh ink—and you meet all blood donor eligibility requirements—you can donate blood!
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 Hodgkin's disease disqualify you from donating, to protect both donor and recipient.
Immunity to malaria in humans
However, with exposure, older children and adults develop essentially complete protection from severe illness and death, although sterile immunity is probably never achieved.
Yes. Menstruating doesn't affect your ability to donate. Enjoy your relaxing time on the donation couch and a tasty snack afterwards. As someone who menstruates, it's a good idea to check out our information about iron.
A recent trial reinforced earlier concerns that iron supplementation can increase malaria rates.
The United States is the largest donor of humanitarian assistance to Africa, leading the international community to support African countries with a range of bold new commitments that bolster life-saving humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable communities.
These wait-time requirements for both tattoos and piercings are related to concerns about hepatitis which can easily be transmitted from donors to patients through transfusion. All blood donations are tested for hepatitis B and hepatitis C with several different tests.
After a donation, most people's haemoglobin levels are back to normal after 6 to 12 weeks. This is why we ask donors to wait for a minimum of 12 weeks between donations (12 weeks for men and 16 weeks for women) to ensure that we don't risk lowering your haemoglobin levels over the long term.
While the countries with larger populations have high numbers of blood donations in absolute terms, with Italy (which has a population of 59.6 million) coming first with 3 million donations followed by France with 2.8 million donations (and 67 million inhabitants) and Germany with 2.4 million donations (and a ...
The collection of menstrual blood is painless and hassle free and can be done at home. It involves collection of stem cells from specialized sterile cups on the first day of a woman's menstrual cycle.
There is a vaccine for the hepatitis A and B viruses. All blood donations are tested for hepatitis B and hepatitis C with several different tests. But because these tests are not perfect, it is still important for people who may be infected with hepatitis viruses to not donate blood.
One of the world's rarest blood types is Rh-null. Fewer than 50 people in the world have this blood type. It's so rare that it's sometimes called “golden blood.”
O negative blood is valuable because it can be transfused to anyone, regardless of their blood type.