ReadyDonor
Ensuring A Safe Blood Supply: Additional Considerations
THANK YOU FOR COMING IN TO DONATE TODAY!
We appreciate your dedication and generosity. As much as we need your help to ensure an adequate blood supply, we need your help to ensure a safe blood supply.
There are several viruses that we would like to provide you with information about that can affect the safety of your donation and potentially cause complications for the recipient of your blood. These viruses are chikungunya and dengue. While these viruses have been around for decades, they have more recently become very prevalent in frequently traveled areas, such as the Caribbean Islands and parts of Florida. They are primarily transmitted to humans by mosquitoes, but there is more recent evidence to support that these viruses can be transmitted by blood transfusion.
Symptoms of chikungunya, and dengue viruses include:
- Fever ≥ 100°F
- Severe body aches or weakness
- Headache
- Eye pain
- Rash
- Bleeding or easy bruising (unrelated to your blood donation)
These viruses can be in your body even if you are feeling well and healthy. Since these viruses cannot be detected with the tests that are approved for use on blood donations, it is imperative that you inform us if any of the following scenarios apply to you.
Are you:
- An individual that traveled to the Caribbean and/or Florida within the past 4 weeks?
- An individual that has experienced two or more symptoms of chikungunya or dengue within the past 4 weeks?
If you answered ‘Yes’ to both of these questions, we are asking you not to donate blood today. We encourage you to speak confidentially with one of our trained medical historians to determine the date that you will be eligible to reschedule your appointment.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR DEDICATION TO SAFE BLOOD DONATION!
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