Donate blood again regularly

My husband stopped in to make sure they had the “new” rules as he found on the Red Cross web site. But it wasn’t’ the Red Cross collecting donations at his office. It was the military collection people, and they have different, more strict rules. So again we couldn’t donate blood.

I qualify to donate blood again! There’s a blood drive at my husbands office on Oct 5th, he’s signed us up!

This is an excerpt from the Red Cross website dealing with mad cow disease. Many in the military are no longer eligible to give blood and don’t know it.

In-Depth Discussion of Variant Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease and Blood Donation
In some parts of the world, cattle can get an infectious, fatal brain disease called Mad Cow Disease. In these same locations, humans have started to get a new disease called variant Creutzfeld-Jacob Disease (vCJD) which is also a fatal brain disease. Scientists believe that vCJD is Mad Cow Disease that has somehow transferred to humans, possibly through the food chain.

There is now evidence from a small number of case reports involving patients and laboratory animal studies that vCJD can be transmitted through transfusion. There is no test for vCJD in humans that could be used to screen blood donors and to protect the blood supply. This means that blood programs must take special precautions to keep vCJD out of the blood supply by avoiding collections from those who have been where this disease is found.

At this time, the American Red Cross donor eligibility rules related to vCJD are as follows:
You are not eligible to donate if:
From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK), or

From January 1, 1980, to present, you had a blood transfusion in any country(ies) in the (UK). The UK includes any of the countries listed below.

o Channel Islands
o England
o Falkland Islands
o Gibraltar
o Isle of Man
o Northern Ireland
o Scotland
o Wales

You were a member of the of the U.S. military, a civilian military employee, or a dependent of a member of the U.S. military who spent a total time of 6 months on or associated with a military base in any of the following areas during the specified time frames

o From 1980 through 1990 - Belgium, the Netherlands (Holland), or Germany
o From 1980 through 1996 - Spain, Portugal, Turkey, Italy or Greece.

You spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 5 years or more from January 1, 1980, to present, in any combination of country(ies) in Europe, including

o in the UK from 1980 through 1996 as listed in above
o on or associated with military bases as described above, and
o in other countries in Europe as listed below:
            # Albania
            # Austria
            # Montenegro (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
            # Belgium
            # Bosnia/Herzegovina
            # Bulgaria
            # Croatia
            # Norway
            # Poland
            # Czech Republic
            # Denmark
            # Romania
            # Finland
            # France
            # Slovak Republic (Slovakia)
            # Germany
            # Greece
            # Spain
            # Hungary
            # Ireland (Republic of)
            # Italy
            # Kosovo (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
            # Liechtenstein
            # Luxembourg
            # Macedonia
            # Netherlands (Holland)
            # Portugal
            # Serbia (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia)
            # Slovenia
            # Sweden
            # Switzerland
            # Turkey
            # Yugoslavia (Federal Republic includes Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia)