Who can’t donate blood? [LIST OF CONTRAINDICATIONS]

Donating blood is an extremely honorable attitude that often saves lives. Unfortunately, not everyone can become a donor. Many issues disqualify those willing to help people in need. The list of contraindications is really long. Find out who cannot donate blood.

Giving blood

A constant need for blood goes without saying. It is an ingredient that we cannot get in the store, like a prescription drug. For this reason, blood donation is a much desired and glorious phenomenon that saves lives and gives hope for better times.

Blood donation is painless and is not dangerous if the donor is healthy and meets strict criteria. The three basic ones are:

1. age – from 18 to 65 years of age;
2. weight – over 50 kg;
3. health condition and taking medications – a healthy person who is constantly refusing to take specific medications can become a blood donor.

In addition to these conditions, a person who does not struggle with mental illnesses, or is not addicted to any substances, such as alcohol or drugs, can donate.

Further part below the video.

Who can’t donate blood?

Before deciding to donate blood, find out what may stand in the way of a potential donor. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to help others. There is a division into temporary and permanent disqualifications.

We talk about temporary disqualification when a specific situation excludes the possibility of donating blood and after a strictly defined time it becomes possible, and about permanent disqualification – e.g. when the state of health does not allow it. Who can’t donate blood? Let’s take a closer look at the situation.

Who can’t donate blood? Temporary contraindications to donating blood

To make sure that your blood donation is good for you, please refer to the list of temporary disqualifications. Having at least one of them may exclude the possibility of blood donation, and the timing of a future donation depends on the specific situation. Who cannot donate blood temporarily? Below is a list of the most important temporary contraindications.

1. women during menstruation and three days after the end of menstruation;
2. dental patients, after tooth extraction (6-day disqualification, unless the gum has been sutured – then the disqualification is for a period of six months), filling (postponement by one day) and root canal treatment (6-day disqualification);
3. people after endoscopic procedures, such as arthroscopy, gastroscopy or colonoscopy (6 months);
4. people who had a tattoo or had surgery on a piercer (6 months);
5. people who suffered from COVID-19 (they can donate 14 days after the end of isolation);
6. patients after procedures and operations that require skin violations (6 months);
7. people after longer antibiotic therapy (2 weeks);
8. women after childbirth (6 months);
9. people after colds and flu who developed a temperature above 38 degrees C (2 weeks);
10. persons after vaccination (the time of ineligibility to donate blood depends on the type of vaccine);
11. persons after returning from a country where there is a risk of contracting a tropical disease (6 months);
12. patients who struggled with osteomyelitis (2 years after recovery);
13. people who suffered from toxoplasmosis (6 months after recovery);
14. people with herpes labialis (2 weeks after recovery);
15. tourists after returning from countries where there is an increased risk of contracting AIDS (6 months from return);
16. tourists after returning from countries where there is an increased risk of contracting malaria, if no symptoms occurred and the test results are negative (4 months);
17. people who have had malaria (3 years after the end of treatment);
18. people who suffered from infectious mononucleosis (6 months after recovery);
19. people who had close contact with patients infected with infectious diseases (if there were no symptoms, a person can donate blood 4 weeks after the end of incubation of the infected person);
20. persons who served their sentence in a closed facility (6 months after being released from prison);
21. people who had gonorrhea (one year after recovery); 
22. patients who had contact with the blood of another person (6 months).

Who can’t donate blood? Permanent disqualifications

While temporary contraindications give hope of becoming a blood donor, permanent disqualifications make you completely disillusioned. When is it unconditionally impossible to donate blood to another person? In case of:

1. addictions – alcoholism and drug addiction;
2. diseases of the digestive, urinary, respiratory and nervous systems (mainly people struggling with epilepsy, chronic diseases of the central nervous system and recurrent mental diseases);
3. malignant tumors;
4. cardiovascular diseases (including circulatory failure, ischemic disease or atherosclerosis);
5. certain skin conditions such as atherosclerosis;
6. infectious diseases – incl. jaundice, Chagas fever, babesiosis, viral hepatitis and hepatitis B and C;
7. engaging in prostitution, changing sexual partners frequently;
8. belonging to groups that can potentially transmit serious diseases (through contact with blood, e.g. belonging to a group of drug addicts);
9. struggling with mental disorders caused by taking psychoactive substances;
10. transplantation of tissues derived from animals (so-called xenografts);
11. dura mater and cornea transplant;
12. having: syphilis, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or at risk of TSE (spongiform encephalitis);
13. systemic diseases, e.g. rheumatoid arthritis or systemic lupus erythematosus (collagenosis).

Apart from the contraindications to donating blood, there are other disqualifying factors due to the time and year of treatment or staying abroad, namely:

1. blood transfusion after January 1, 1980, in Ireland, France and Great Britain;
2. taking hormone injections for fertility treatment (1965-1985);
3. stay in France, Great Britain or Ireland for at least 6 months (from January 1, 1980 to December 31, 1996).

Questionnaire for candidates for blood donors

Before donating blood, the potential donor is required to complete a special questionnaire in which he provides information about his health. The questions included in the questionnaire refer to the above-mentioned cases, and an affirmative answer may be associated with the impossibility of donating blood (temporary or permanent). It is extremely important to answer truthfully – only a healthy donor can do the job and help the person in need.

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