Anne4Terry

Show off

artep

eek!!!! all you peeps are in WA......I'm on the other side!!!!!!! But rest assured if you need any I'll be there!!!! .........as long as you do the same for me as I seem to be the only one here!!!

cresta57

I'm A- though it's somewhat thinned with a nice bottle or red at the moment

JAJ

Last time I checked, it was 6 months residence in the UK between 1980 and 1996.

Nationality is irrelevant - Australian citizens who lived in the UK in the specified period are also excluded. Similarly, British citizens who did not live in the UK in this time are acceptable donors.

But you should check the current regulations directly.

Jeremy

markeh

Sorry Base Sydney,
I'm am AB+ my blood is no good to you, but mny plasma is ok!

The good news is that I can have all blood groups in return!

Bye
Mark

Jonahs_mummy

Jeremy

Why is that? I am a regular blood donor in the UK & with me having a blood group that is in the minority I would have thought they would be happy for the donation, as they are here...?

Claire

CasG

I've got A type too - we could PM one another if we need some blood

CPW

The reasoning is that there is a risk that people resident in the UK during that period might have been exposed to the prion proteins that cause bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE - 'mad cow disease') and that the disease might be transmissible through blood. As far as I know, there is no research that proves definitively that this is a risk, but I presume that the assumption is that it's better to be safe than sorry. The authorities had their fingers bitten over HIV infection and more recently over hepatitis C virus, so I guess they don't want a repeat of that if they can avoid it. In the UK itself, of course, they can hardly bar people who were resident in the UK during the period in question from giving blood, because there would hardly be any donors left; indeed, this is apparently now a problem in the Irish Republic, which has some sort of bar on blood donations from people who were resident in Great Britain (not the UK as a whole) during the height of the mad cow problems.

One suspects that it might all be an over-reaction; on the other hand, only time will tell.

JayDeee

Very true, It makes me feel bad that I cant give blood as I was a regular donor in the Uk aswell. and when mad cow came out in the Uk my mum banned us from eating Beef sausages and burgers so the chances of me having it are very very slim but as you say better to be safe than sorry and only time will tell.

I'm sure if there were a major disaster (which I hope there isn;t) our pommy blood will be called upon

Kala

JAJ

It's a case of balancing risk/impact. At the moment they obviously feel they can manage without such donations, so they do.

About 10% of the Australian population is excluded (including many Aussies) - if they find they are persistently short of blood they may find they have to relax or do away with the rule. Nothing will change before then.

In the meantime, those affected can avoid giving blood with a clear conscience.

Jeremy

JAJ

No-one ought to feel 'bad' about anything. If you are willing to give blood and Australia refuses to accept it, it's not your problem.

Other countries have had similar 'mad cow' problems (perhaps not on the same scale) which have been covered up.

And in the UK - a country of 60 million people - there have only been around 100 cases of so-called 'vCJD' in 20 years, hardly the stuff of a major epidemic.


If they ever run out of blood for whatever reason, rules like this will get changed.


Jeremy

JayDeee

Absolutely true, maybe not so much bad but disapointed that I cant do what I like to do.

The rule seems over the top but again as you say if they needed it that badly they would soon let us give it.

At least the rule (in my case) will get the Aussie hubby donating blood whic he would never have done before.

Kala

Ozzidoc

Hi all

Am not a nurse, just a poor medical student... (slightly pissed on a nice Sat night!)..

Can I just say that nowadays blood transfusions r not given willy-nilly: there r all kinds of alternatives includind plain old fluids, colloids, plasma (without the red blood cells so no worries about the ABO Rh blood types) etc.

Hmmm just to be a bit cheeky....some of us know our ABO group, and also if we are rhesus neg or pos, but what about the other dozen or so blood group systems? Not really relevant normally... but they include Kell, Duffy, Kidd and Lewis. What this actually seems to mean is that eg one A neg is not nec suitable to give to another A neg person....there r lots of other factors to consider.

Kerplunk.......(me falling off my high horse)

JayDeee

All gets a bit confusing after the usual a b o Rh + or - tho.

I have spoken to my mum and she is a A+ weak d (aparently only 0.2% of the population are that, my dad is o+ and I am A-. Had a bit of a shock when we first found that out as we couldn;t figure out how a neg child came from 2 pos parents, since looking it up and trying o figure it al out it looks like it makes sence, unless my mum was an ol slapper

the Fisher system almost makes sence but I get lost trying to figure out the others.

If you know loads about blood groups you might be able to help me understand it all as there is a bit more to it all than meets the eye If so and you dnt mind them please drop me a PM as I am realy intrested in al this blood grouping

Cheers
Kala

base_sydney

After Grubelice, you are the second one in my list. I have already sent you a short pm with my details. Once I have few more people in my list, I can share the list with you and Grubelice (of course, with the consent of other people). I am happy I am making some progress.