I was listening to the American military radio here in Korea and they invited soldiers to donate blood with some exceptions:
- if you’ve been shorter than 30 days in Korea
- if you got a tatoo in the last 6 months
- if you lived in Europe for more than 5 years
I really wonder what could have happened to someone who lived in Europe for more than 5 years which triggered this particular exception.
My guess is that it’s related to mad cow disease, and it hasn’t been updated in a while? I couldn’t find anything when I searched
Here is ours, and the history behind some of the changes https://www.blood.ca/en/blood/am-i-eligible/changes-donation-criteria-blood-donation
I am not allowed to give blood, because i once got a blood transfusion in the eighties and i have a tiny, tiny risk of infecting people with mad cow disease. I only found out when i decided to give blood some years back and found out i am not allowed to.
And to clarify; i live in Europe
Same. Weirdly they used to take my blood then decided that it wasn’t OK any more. Didn’t know that it was a change in policy because of mad cow.
I can’t donate blood because my grandma died from prions. I probably have a much, much higher chance of spreading it than you, and mine is still probably extremely low.
I’m very sorry, it must have been shocking news for you and your family.
Ah yeah, that sounds about right, the 5 years incubation time and so on. Thanks!
Mad cow disease can (sometimes/possibly) take decades to have an effect. If you are some infected meat and have the wrong genetics you could wind up with a sponge for a brain 30 years later.
Prions are terrifying.
The five years is just due to cumulative risk. Someone decided to make that the cutoff.
Bovine spongiform encephalopathy
And the human form, vCJD - variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Weird that it is entirety of Europe. In Finland it is only asked if you’ve been in or lived in the UK in the 90s iirc.
Now I’m curious what blood-related debacle was happening in the UK in the 90s.
Mad cow disease was prevalent.
There’s a bit of nuance here. Mad cow disease (BSE) was a big deal, yes, but vCJD (the human form) was not prevalent - as of a few years ago, I think there was less than 200 cases in the UK, and less than 250 cases worldwide - ever. As it can be dormant for decades they believe, it’s why the UK population and visitors at those times is not allowed. Keep in mind, in the UK we do still donate blood - we don’t have to import it from elsewhere. But as it’s such a horrific disease, it’s easier to just say “No one from the UK can donate blood.” it’s not like it would impact other countries blood supplies, and keeps them a bit safer.
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