Hobbying and Blood Donation

[Fat Happy Buddha]

Yesterday, in the course of doing a little research for a comment I made in another thread, I came across the websites of the Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec. I was surprised to find that due to the fact that I've had malaria I am not an eligible blood donor.

From what I've been able to understand, it seems that sex-workers, those who engage in high-risk sex and those who fall into various other classifications are also not eligible.

I was wondering if any members take their hobbying into consideration when deciding whether or not to donate blood.

 

[The Snark]

Anyone who has had sex with a prostitute is not allowed to give blood for at least a year. In some jurisdictions, the ineligibility is for life.

There is also a lifetime exclusion for any man who has had sex with another man.

 

[emgeef]

As your blood is going to someone else, I dont think you can make the decision not to disclose it. It might result in them not accepting your blood, but that is there choice. You should disclose it, embarassing as it might be, or not give blood... right now, I am not giving

 

[Miss Maria]

Calgary

I have a very good 29 year old single girlfriend who lives in Calgary and just because she is single and has had sex occasionally throughout the year, she is not allowed to donate blood. Even if the sex was protected.

 

[emgeef]

That is unusual... must be more to the story, cause the questionnaire, as I recall it, would not exclude that

 

[Miss Maria]

thats what we figured

Calgary is more conservative and we figured the lady was just being a pain. A 29 year old single girl over there HAS to be a big whore. I don't mean to offend anyone here but I did find that strange and unjust.

 

[Fat Happy Buddha]

I wonder if the Canadian blood collection agencies aren't over-compensating after the HIV and Hep-C debacles of the 1990s. According to the US Red Cross, there is a three-year waiting period following treatment of malaria before blood donations will be accepted, but in Canada it appears to be a lifetime ban.

Also, I noticed that anybody who has spent more than a few months in Britain or six months in Europe since 1980 is also ineligible to donate.

 

[Lusty Pig]

You're a hobbyist or ene if you get alot of action on your own. You take care and precautions and you get tested regularly. If you are strict with that and test results are negative for all items on the list, then donate. If you don't do all of this and you donate blood, you are reckless as far as I am concerned.

 

[quirky]

England is a mad cow issue....

 

[RandyOne]

England is a mad cow issue....

Hey

Yeah, a BUNCH of things will disqualify you. For me, it was a number of weeks spent in France (again because of Mad Cow). The "have you paid for sex" question was there too last time I checked.

So, I don't give blood and don't plan on lying during the interview process.

RandyOne

 

[naughtylady]

What I think is stupid is that someone who hooks up every weekend with a new one nighter is allowed to donate to Hema-Quebec;
But someone who has protected sex once with a prostitute is banned for life, same goes for men who might have had 1 covered gay sexual encounter even if it was 10 years or more ago...
Also while these people are banned, their heterosexual partners are not.

To me the proper question would be have you had sex without a condom with a partner of possibly unknown status for HIV and STIs within the past 6 months (since nothing takes more than 6 months before it would be detectable in the blood)

Moreover, they test each and every donation.

IMHO, it is discriminatory.
Especially since there are many who are excluded from donating who want to, and are clean, while Hema-Quebec is in constant need of blood.

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[korbel]

I wonder if the Canadian blood collection agencies aren't over-compensating after the HIV and Hep-C debacles of the 1990s. According to the US Red Cross, there is a three-year waiting period following treatment of malaria before blood donations will be accepted, but in Canada it appears to be a lifetime ban.

Also, I noticed that anybody who has spent more than a few months in Britain or six months in Europe since 1980 is also ineligible to donate.

Hello Fat Happy Buddha,

I realize there are certain assumptions about what constitutes risk in our societies and certain activities seem to carry a stigma of impurity with them that separates those involved from so-called more moral people. But it has always been strange to me how we can presume those portions of the population who don't fall under the defined "risk" labels are presumably safer to allow to participate in such vital services as blood donations. Sure it is sensible to be careful about those who have been in higher risk contact, or at least activities presumed to be more risky. But from what I know about the population at large, and especially some individuals who are not banned because they have not engaged in branded activities, I wouldn't feel better about receving blood from them than a guy who spent 20 years visiting with SPs. I know those who are so hedonistic and debauched I wouldn't feel safe smelling their breath. As for the general population there doesn't seem to be much difference these days from the greater portion of them to the worse SP or hobby client at times. Such is the irony of trying to protect the masses from those of greater risks.

Isn't it funny,

Korbel

PS

Contact me by PM soon...your box is full.

 

[Kepler]

What I think is stupid is that someone who hooks up every weekend with a new one nighter is allowed to donate to Hema-Quebec;

No they're not. They ask you if you've had one night stands in the last year (through the question "do you know the sexual history of the people you've slept with in the last year")

Moreover, they test each and every donation.

Even after 6 months, the tests have a false negative percentage (ie: an error rate). They ask those questions to minimize the risk to people who receive blood.

 

[Kepler]

you could just say no to the questions a still be able to give blood, if in your opinion you are entitled to.

No one is entitled to give blood!

Being a tattoo artist, I do not have the right to give blood for life,

I think that's incorrect. First, tattoo artists are not banned, people who have received a tattoo are banned. And I don't think it's for life, but just for one year. Your kids are not banned at all unless they've had tattoos in the last year.

I do understand that they are being carefull, but like I said, people could lie and still give blood. I mean, they are not going to strip me naked to see if Im tattooed right? Oh what the hell....

The questions are there to reduce the risk to a minimum. People who receive blood often have their immune system in a very weakened state. They need all the help they can get. Please don't make a political statement by gambling with their lives.

 

[korbel]

Unreal.

I do understand that they are being carefull, but like I said, people could lie and still give blood. I mean, they are not going to strip me naked to see if Im tattooed right? Oh what the hell....

Hello Roxanna,

Are you just making an observation or making a suggestion? Anyone making a suggestion that donors might just hide their risky behavior knowing it increases the danger to those receiving blood is making an extremely irresponsible statement and I just don't undertsand how such a thing could seem justified or even rational to anyone.

Geeeeeez,

Korbel

 

[Desira]

The thing is that you go not go throught a lie detector so ya know, you could just say no to the questions a still be able to give blood, if in your opinion you are entitled to.
Being a tattoo artist, I do not have the right to give blood for life, Im banned and, oh so lame, my kids will be banned as well. Yes, you read properly, my kids will be banned as well, because if I was a tattoo artist before they were born or while i was pregnant, they consider the fact that we share the same blood and that I mights carry something, that he - she will eventually carry.
Stupid as that.
Im a type AB negative, witch is extremely rare, and they dont give a crap. You got tattooes? cant take your blood. Do tats? Cant take your blood. Gay? Prostitute? Hobbyist? One nighter? Son-of-a-tattoo-artist? NOP. Banned for life. Makes me want to rip off those hema quebec posters.....
I do understand that they are being carefull, but like I said, people could lie and still give blood. I mean, they are not going to strip me naked to see if Im tattooed right? Oh what the hell....

Wow, I didn't know that , I've wanted to give blood but my sugar is low , I get "other" tests done regularly when I have my sugar checked out . I thought it was a rumour that you couldn't donate if you have tattoos , with the # of tattoos I have now ..... That sucks that they won't take yours I find it so strange considering how clean (most )shops are nowadays . I'm with you on ripping off those hema posters ! Seriously , I've gone to the clsc to have blood tests done and the nurse tried to wear the same gloves as she did on the person prior to me ,I've never heard of that happening in a shop !

 

[metoo4]

This is in general, not directed to anybody specific.

I don't get it: you want to give blood, they have a reason to refuse it. SO WHAT?? Are you going to get sick because they refused you? Is your life going to be less full and complete without giving blood? Are you going to go in a deep depression if you're not allowed to give blood? If any of these are true, you have a way bigger problem than being refused as a blood donor.

All I see is a revolt against the system, nothing more! And a useless, pointless revolt too! You want to give blood, you're rejected and you take it personally. Guess what? It's nothing personnal!! YOU could be safer than all the other donors, tatooed, hobbyist and all but, what about others who aren't as clean as you? Hema Québec have to draw a line and that line can't be crossed. It might bruise your ego but, that's a minor problem compared to somebody being infected/killed by bad blood. It's a restriction we, as a society, must accept, without seeing it as a personnal attack.

A friend of mine almost died because a donor had peanut butter and, of all the bags he could have gotten, that's the one he ended up with. Problem is, he's allergic to peanuts! That's only peanut, right? Not Hepatitis, not AIDS, only peanuts. But nearly deadly for him. ANY PATHOGEN can be deadly to somebody who's already sick. ANY INFECTION can do the same.

Hepatitis, doesn't this ring a bell? Few years ago... Still paying for it. Will they make a similar mistake again? NO WAY!

As far as lying, of course you can! But, what if you discover your "pure" blood is in fact infected, a few month down the block, without your tests showing anything at the time you donated? Could you live with this, knowing you might have infected/killed others? How futile your revolt will look like then?

Personally, I prefer they err on the safe side rather than being permissive. Are they filtering 100% of possible problem-donor with these methods? No kidding, probably a lot is going tru! But if they filter 2%, even 1%, even less than that, that's that much less chances I risk someday getting the blood of an infected donor who would have been accepted without these measures.

I don't know about you but, if I play Russian Roulette, I prefer 1 bullet in the 1,000,000 shot magazine anytime over 2 bullets in the same one.

 

[naughtylady]

Kepler,
I am a tattoo artist, I think I do know if I have the right to give blood or not. When they ask me what my occupation was, I said tattoo artist and the answer I got was sorry, we cannot allow you to donate. Its pretty simple, I manipulate needles all day, and some people still think that its risky or that our clients (the tattoed people) are a bunch of druggies. Im not saying everybody thinks that but I do know that.

And as for me saying that people could lie, common there, was I suggesting to do it or was I simply saying that we could lie but yet we dont, we deceide to tell the truth.
My point was that just about anybody can give blood, as long as they lie. And that is a fact, not me trying to convince anybody to do it.

I wonder if a blood technitian at a hospital would be alowed to donate

Ronnie,
Naughtylady

 

[coonan]

The thing is that you go not go throught a lie detector so ya know, you could just say no to the questions a still be able to give blood, if in your opinion you are entitled to.
Being a tattoo artist, I do not have the right to give blood for life, Im banned and, oh so lame, my kids will be banned as well. Yes, you read properly, my kids will be banned as well, because if I was a tattoo artist before they were born or while i was pregnant, they consider the fact that we share the same blood and that I mights carry something, that he - she will eventually carry.
Stupid as that.
Im a type AB negative, witch is extremely rare, and they dont give a crap. You got tattooes? cant take your blood. Do tats? Cant take your blood. Gay? Prostitute? Hobbyist? One nighter? Son-of-a-tattoo-artist? NOP. Banned for life. Makes me want to rip off those hema quebec posters.....
I do understand that they are being carefull, but like I said, people could lie and still give blood. I mean, they are not going to strip me naked to see if Im tattooed right? Oh what the hell....

I have a full back piece and both shoulder done and in ontario I only had to wait a year or 16 months... But luck me I got MS and now I'm banned for life...