#FunFactFriday – Saving Lives

Today’s #FunFactFriday is a pretty important one. We are discussing the importance of Blood Donation, and how this simple act of kindness affects those in need of your contribution – whether physical or monetary.

Fact #1 – The month of January is designated as National Blood Donor Month and is celebrated in order to help educate about blood donation and raise awareness about the need for more donors.

Fact #2 –  Blood donation is one of the most common forms of “Living Donation” (compared to kidney or bone marrow). Why is it important? Get the facts down below (⇓).

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Fact #3 – You don’t need a special reason to give blood. You just need your own reason.

• Some people give blood because they were asked by a friend;
• Some know that a family member or a friend might need blood some day;
• Some believe it is the right thing to do
• I comes with the health perk of a free mini physical. They check
  • Pulse
  • Blood pressure
  • Body temperature
  • Hemoglobin
• Plus, there’s cookies!

Fact #4 – To be eligible, you must:

• Be in good general health and feeling well*
• Be at least 17-years-old in most states, or 16-years-old with parental consent if allowed by state law;
• Weigh at least 110 lbs.
  (Additional weight requirements apply for donors 18-years-old and younger and all high school donors.)

Fact # 5 – Several other factors affect you ability to donate blood. Some of the most important ones are:

i.  If you are sick or have a temperature above 99.5 F, you may not donate.

ii. Immunization/ Vaccination status – Acceptable if you were vaccinated for influenza, tetanus or meningitis, providing you are symptom-free and fever-free. Includes the Tdap vaccine and HPV Vaccine (example, Gardasil).

Wait 4 weeks after immunizations for German Measles (Rubella), MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella), Chicken Pox and Shingles; 2 weeks after immunizations for Red Measles (Rubeola), Mumps, Polio (by mouth), and Yellow Fever vaccine; and 21 days after immunization for hepatitis B as long as you are not given the immunization for exposure to hepatitis B.

iii. If you ever received a dura mater (brain covering) transplant or human pituitary growth hormone, you are not eligible to donate. Those who have a blood relative who had Creutzfeld-Jakob disease are also not eligible to donate.

iv. If you had hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) caused by a virus, or unexplained jaundice (yellow discoloration of the skin), since age 11, you are not eligible to donate blood. This includes those who had hepatitis with Cytomegalovirus (CMV), or Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), the virus that causes Mononucleosis.

n.b.You may only donate if you had jaundice or hepatitis caused by something other than a viral infection, for example: medications, alcohol, gallstones or trauma to the liver.

 v. HIV/AIDS Status -You should not give blood if you have AIDS or have ever had a positive HIV test, or if you have done something that puts you at risk for becoming infected with HIV. Theses high risk behaviors include:

• the use of intravenous drugs, steroids or anything not prescribed by your doctor
• are a male who has had sexual contact with another male, even once, since 1977;
• have had sexual contact in the past 12 months with anyone described above
• received clotting factor concentrates for a bleeding disorder such as hemophilia

n.b. You should also not give blood if you have any possible signs or symptoms of HIV/AIDS.

vi. If you have had an STI such as syphillis or gonorrhea, it is suggested that you wait 12 months after completing treatment to donate blood gonorrhea. Chlamydia, venereal warts (human papilloma virus -HPV), or genital herpes are not a cause for deferral if you are feeling healthy and well and meet all other eligibility requirements.

vii. Piercings – Persons with piercings (ears, body), or have undergone Electrolysis are acceptable donors as long as the instruments used were sterile or single-use equipment. It is recommended however that these individuals wait 12 months if there is any question whether or not the instruments used were sterile and free of blood contamination. This requirement is related to concerns about hepatitis.

viii. Tattoos – A tattoo is acceptable if the tattoo was applied by a state-regulated entity using sterile needles and ink that is not reused. Cosmetic tattoos applied in a licensed establishment in a regulated state using sterile needles and ink that is not reused is acceptable. You should discuss your particular situation with the health historian at the time of donation.It is also recommended for these individuals to wait 12 months after a tattoo if the tattoo was applied in a state that does not regulate tattoo facilities. This requirement is related to concerns about hepatitis.

ix. Travel Outside the U.S. & Immigration – to determine your exposure to diseases such as malaria (spread by infeted blood and mosquito transmission), endemic to Africa, Asia, Central and South America, or ebola  (spread through bodily fluids), endemic to regions of Africa. If you have traveled or lived in a malaria-risk country, you may be required to adhere to a waiting period before you can donate blood. The deferred periods are: 

• Wait 3 years after completing treatment for malaria.
• Wait 12 months after returning from a trip to an area where malaria is found.
• Wait 3 years after living more than 5 years in a country or countries where malaria is found. An additional waiting period of 3 years may be required if you have traveled to an area where malaria is found if you have not lived a consecutive 3 years in a country or countries where malaria is not found.

Persons who have spent long periods of time in countries where Creutzfeld Jacob Disease -“mad cow disease” is found are not eligible to donate. This requirement is related to concerns about variant Creutzfeld Jacob Disease (vCJD). You are not eligible to donate if:

• From January 1, 1980, to present, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or received a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK) or France, including the Channel Islands, England, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales.
• If you were a member of the of the U.S. military, a civilian military employee, or a dependent of a member of the U.S. military who spent a total time of 6 months on or associated with a military base in any of the following areas during the specified time frames: From 1980 through 1990 – Belgium, the Netherlands (Holland), or Germany or from 1980 through 1996 – Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy or Greece; or if you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, to present, in any combination of the following European countries:

Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia/Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Ireland (Republic of), Lichtrnestein, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Yugoslavia (includes, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia)

Fact #6 – Whole blood contains red cells, white cells, and platelets (~45% of volume) suspended in plasma (~55% of volume).

Plasma is a fluid, composed of about 92% water, 7% vital proteins such as albumin, gamma globulin, anti- hemophilic factor, and other clotting factors, and 1% mineral salts, sugars, fats, hormones and vitamins.

Platelets, or thrombocytes, are small, colorless cell fragments in the blood whose main function is to interact with clotting proteins to stop or prevent bleeding.Red cells, or erythrocytes, carry oxygen from the lungs to your body’s tissue and take carbon dioxide back to your lungs to be exhaled.

Fact #7 – Since blood can be separated into it’s constituent parts, individual blood donations can help individuals with several needs, based on your choice of donation type. Below are an example of the main types of blood product donations you can choose from:

Whole Blood Donation

This is the most common type of donation, during which approximately a pint of ‘whole blood’ is given. The blood is separated into transfusable components – red cells, plasma, platelets and/or cryoprecipitated AHF. This type of blood donation usually takes about an hour, though the actual donation takes about 8-10 minutes. You are eligible to donate ‘whole blood’ every 56 days.

Platelet Apheresis

Platelet donations by an apheresis machine collects the platelets and some plasma and returns the red cells and most of the plasma back to the donor. Platelets are a vital element of cancer and organ transplant treatments, as well as many surgical procedures as they help prevent massive blood loss. A single donation of platelets collected by apheresis can constitute one or several transfusable units, while it takes about four to six whole blood donations to constitute a single transfusable unit of platelets. The donation takes approximately one and-a-half to two and-a-half hours.

Plasma Apheresis

Plasma is collected simultaneously with a platelet donation; During a plasma apheresis donation, the blood is collected by a machine, which separates the plasma, red cells and platelets and returns the red cells and/or platelets back to the donor. While donors with Type AB blood can only give red cells to other Type AB recipients, they are the universal plasma donors. The ‘right type’ donation for AB donors may be an apheresis donation of plasma or plasma and platelets. The donation takes approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Double Red Cells

Double red cell donation is done with the help of an apheresis machine which collects the red cells but returns most of the plasma and platelets to the donor. Red cells are the most transfused blood component, and certain blood types are often in short supply. Double red cell donations from Type O donors and donors with Rh-negative blood types play a very important role in maintaining blood supply levels. Donors need to meet slightly higher hemoglobin and body height/weight requirements in order to be able to give a double red cell donation. Double red cell donations take approximately 30 minutes longer than a whole blood donation and allow you to give two units of red cells. Available in most donation centers and some blood drives. Donors are eligible to give double red cells every 112 days.

Fact #8 – You can donate sveral times a year based on your type of blood product donations. The donation intervals are as follows:

• at least 8 weeks between whole blood (standard) donations;
• at least 7 days between platelet (pheresis) donations;
• at least 16 weeks between double red cell (automated) donations.

Fact #9 – Although all blood is made of the same basic elements, not all blood is alike. In fact, there are eight different common blood types, which are determined by the presence or absence of certain antigens – substances that can trigger an immune response if they are foreign to the body. Therefore, safe blood transfusions depend on careful blood typing and cross-matching.

Fact #10 – There are four major blood groups determined by the presence or absence of two antigens – A and B – on the surface of red blood cells:

• Group A – has only the A antigen on red cells (and B antibody in the plasma)
• Group B – has only the B antigen on red cells (and A antibody in the plasma)
• Group AB – has both A and B antigens on red cells (but neither A nor B antibody in the plasma)
• Group O – has neither A nor B antigens on red cells (but both A and B antibody are in the plasma)

Fact #11 – There are very specific ways in which blood types must be matched for a safe transfusion. See the chart below:

  

Fact #12 – Besides the A and B antigens, there is a third antigen called the Rh factor (rhesus – the thing that links our relation to Rhesus Macaque monkeys), which can be either present (+) or absent ( – ). In general, Rh negative blood is given to Rh-negative patients, and Rh positive blood or Rh negative blood may be given to Rh positive patients.

Fact #13 – The universal red cell donor has Type O negative blood type., while O positive is the most common blood type.

Fact #14 – The universal plasma donor has Type AB blood type.

Fact #15 – So with all these varying factors affecting how people receive blood it can be determined that there are several blood types. These blood types are found in varying proportions in specific populations. For example, Hispanic people, for example, have a relatively high number of O’s, while Asian people have a relatively high number of B’s. The mix of the different blood types in the U.S. population is:

Fact #16 – Some patients require a closer blood match than that provided by the ABO positive/negative blood typing. For example, sometimes if the donor and recipient are from the same ethnic background the chance of a reaction can be reduced. That’s why an African-American blood donation may be the best hope for the needs of patients with sickle cell disease, 98 percent of whom are of African-American descent.

Fact #17 – Blood type is inherited. Like eye color, blood type is passed genetically from your parents. Whether your blood group is type A, B, AB or O is based on the blood types of your mother and father.

Fact #18 – Type O is routinely in short supply and in high demand by hospitals – both because it is the most common blood type and because Type O-negative blood, in particular, is the universal type needed for emergency transfusions. Minority and diverse populations, therefore, play a critical role in meeting the constant need for blood.

 Fact #19 – The FDA recently finalized an amendment to to the lifetime ban/donor deferral for men who have sex with men. It will now be replaced with a one-year ban. This will allow abstinent gay men, transgender women, and some bisexuals to donate. The regulations on donating blood were put in place in 1983 in the wake of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and related panic. While virtually no one gets HIV due to a transfusion and all donated blood is tested for HIV/AIDS, the policy prohibited donations by any man who engaged in oral or anal sex with another man, even once, since 1977.

I hope this post has helped educate you all on the importance of blood donation and provided you with the necessary information to make an informed choice if you do consider becoming a donor.

Hugs and Sunshine,

Livi.

Statistics provided by the National Red Cross.

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