2023-06-14 15:49:31
BBlood is precious – and rare: around 14,000 blood donations are needed every day in Germany for operations, accident victims and the treatment of serious illnesses such as cancer. With summer approaching, a classic dry spell for blood and plasma is approaching.
Therefore, the World Blood Donor Day on Wednesday calls for donations. The motto this year: “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often”.
World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14th, the birthday of Karl Landsteiner, the discoverer of blood types in 1868. On the website blutspenden.de Among other things, there is an interactive map on which nearby locations for blood, plasma or platelet donations can be found.
These are the requirements for donating blood
Anyone over the age of 18 can donate blood. The age limit was abolished in March of this year. Now, when it comes to adults, what counts most is their individual state of health and not their age, sexual orientation or gender identity. Therefore, before every donation, there is a health check.
What excludes a blood donation?
There are a few temporary exclusion criteria that justify a so-called deferral: Anyone who had Covid-19 but had no symptoms or only mild symptoms without fever must wait seven days after the positive test result. In the case of Corona with fever, donations may only be made 28 days after the symptoms have disappeared. People with cold symptoms are generally not allowed to donate blood.
It is necessary to wait a week after a cold, at least four weeks after infection with fever or diarrhea. After a professional tooth cleaning, you have to wait a day; if the dentist has extracted a tooth or treated it comprehensively, the blood donor has to wait at least a week.
During pregnancy and after childbirth, women should temporarily not donate blood. This also applies to breastfeeding. With hormonal contraceptives, blood donation is usually possible.
Anyone who has been vaccinated against yellow fever, rubella, measles, mumps, varicella, typhoid, cholera or hepatitis B with live vaccines is not allowed to donate blood for four weeks. After vaccination with dead or toxoid vaccines or genetically manufactured vaccines (e.g. against diphtheria, influenza, hepatitis A, tetanus, TBE) there is no waiting period.
There must be several months between a trip to countries with a risk of malaria or hepatitis and a blood donation.
Even after major operations, blood donation has to be paused. This also applies if you take certain medications.
After piercings, tattoos and permanent make-up, you have to wait at least four months before making the next donation. The same applies after acupuncture treatments, unless they can be proven to have been carried out in a sterile manner. Otherwise the risk of infection would be too high.
Who is generally not allowed to donate blood?
People who use drugs are not allowed to donate blood. This also applies to pre-existing conditions such as insulin-dependent diabetes, hepatitis and chronic inflammatory diseases, malaria and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. This also includes heart and vascular diseases, certain blood clotting disorders, chronic diseases of the kidneys, lungs or digestive system, disorders of the immune system or metabolism and malignant tumor diseases.
What are the rules for homosexuals and trans people when donating blood?
Homosexual and bisexual men can no longer be excluded from donating blood. In March, the transfusion law was amended, which now expressly states that sexual orientation must not be taken into account when deciding on a possible exclusion.
Previously, if men had sex with a new man or with more than one man, they had to wait four months before they could donate blood. This was justified with an increased risk of transmitting a possible HIV infection.
However, potential donors may still be temporarily turned away because of “individual sexual behavior” as part of the risk assessment.
Even trans people should no longer be excluded from donating blood from the outset.
What is tested before blood donation
The blood is tested for hepatitis A, B, C, and E, as well as HIV, syphilis, and ringworm.
How often can blood be donated?
Men are allowed to donate blood six times in a year, women only four times. Because the body needs around two months to compensate for the iron loss, and a little longer for women. Therefore, there must be at least eight weeks between two blood donations.
The body regenerates blood cells in just two weeks.
How much blood is taken in a donation?
Each donor gives 500 milliliters of their blood. This amount can help up to three seriously ill or injured people. However, the blood preparations last a maximum of 42 days, and some concentrates only last a few days.
How much money do you get for donating blood?
You don’t get any money for donating blood. According to the Transfusion Act, blood donors can receive an expense allowance. This is usually a lump sum that varies depending on the type of donation (whole blood, plasmapheresis, thrombocytapheresis).
The European Council also calls for unpaid, voluntary and purposeless blood donation.
What makes blood donations so precious
According to the German Red Cross (DRK), only just under three percent of the population donate blood on a regular basis. In the cities, the proportion is significantly lower than in the countryside. For a sufficient, long-term supply, around six percent would have to donate regularly.
The blood supply is likely to become even scarcer in the future. Every year around one hundred thousand active blood donors drop out due to age or illness. And the need among older people is increasing.
“Without blood, several thousand people in Germany would have no chance of survival every day,” says Patric Nohe from the German Red Cross (DRK). In the baby boomer generation there were still many loyal donors who donated half a liter of blood four, five or even six times a year. But this generation is getting older. And many older people have illnesses, need medication and are therefore not suitable as donors. “Loyal blood donors suddenly become blood recipients,” says Nohe.
Especially during the holiday season, blood supplies are regularly scarce in the summer. “We’re really approaching a critical point,” warns Nohe.
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In order for the system to continue to function in the future, more young people need to become regular blood donors. They are therefore the focus of World Blood Donor Day.
Because blood cannot be replaced by anything in medicine. And anyone could find themselves in a situation where they will be dependent on someone else’s blood. And then it’s usually a matter of life or death.
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