Blood donation warning for ME

[Fae kitty]

From the ME/CFS Australia website:

10th December 2009

The Australian Red Cross is advising people who have been diagnosed with or suspected of having ME/CFS not to donate blood. An email from the Red Cross to a potential donor on the 10th of December 2009 indicated:

"Current advice within the Australian Red Cross Blood Service is that chronic fatigue syndrome patients are not eligible to give blood until the condition is resolved and recovery confirmed by a treating doctor."

The current advice from UK Blood Services in relation to ME/CFS has been further clarified: "Individuals suffering from ME/CFS are deferred from blood donation until their condition has resolved and they are feeling completely well."



This is the first time i've heard anyone actually come out & say the we shouldn't donate blood. I've actually thought about whether it would be wise for our blood to be used in transfusions... Any thoughts?

[ArgyrosfeniX]

I know that since I've had it, I've politely refused to donate.

Was worried that it might be able to be spread through transfusions.

[Fae kitty]

Apr 15, 2010 6:13:35 GMT 10 ArgyrosfeniX said:

Was worried that it might be able to be spread through transfusions.

Yeah, that was pretty much my concern too.

[upnorth]

Due to the potential XMRV, Canada officially banned all CFS/M.E. patients from donating sometime last week.

[Fae kitty]

Apr 17, 2010 2:54:07 GMT 10 upnorth said:

Due to the potential XMRV, Canada officially banned all CFS/M.E. patients from donating sometime last week.

wow, that's the first official ban i've heard in relation to ME & blood donation.

[spirit]

Have they stated why?

[upnorth]

www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/791225--virus-leads-canadian-blood-service-to-ban-certain-donors

Here's the link to the article.....

[ArgyrosfeniX]

Good that they put multiple points of view into the report and I liked that they stated that so many of the Canadian MEers are "too sick" to donate.

Helps give our disease a little more "Street Cred".

[Fae kitty]

Australia has now banned donations as well. From Australian Red Cross Blood Service:

23.4.2010The Australian Red Cross Blood Service will indefinitely defer donors who have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS).

This follows recent research, describing a possible link between chronic fatigue, and a retrovirus called Xenotropic Murine leukaemia virus-related Virus (XMRV).

As the Blood Service currently defers donors who have CFS, this change will delay their return to donating until there is more scientific literature on the possible viral link.

The number one priority of the Blood Service remains the safety of Australia’s blood supply.

Blood Service specialist, Dr Tony Keller, said eligibility to donate is always a balance between risk and benefit.

“There is at present no test available for CFS or XMRV, but our donor questionnaire alerts us when someone has CFS. Very few donors will be affected by this decision,” Dr Keller said.

“The science on this internationally is unclear. The recent North American research findings haven’t been supported by research undertaken in Europe, and there is currently no Australian research on XMRV.

“We will review our decision in two years time, when further studies into the virus have been done.”

The Blood Service currently has 570,000 donors a year. In the past two years, there have been only 70 donors deferred due to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

We are writing to a small number of donors to notify them of this change.



www.donateblood.com.au/news-detail.aspx?IDDataTreeMenu=33&ID=390