Dear Friends, Please stop doubting Doctors and Medical Personnels un-necessarily.....Whatever they are doing is for the best of the Patient. In the process if u felt uncomfortable, remember, it was for a 'good n self-less' reason to benefit 'your patient' whom u wanted to 'help' by donating your blood !
Please read on as I try to Simplify it for Everyone's Benefit: Blood Banks r worried about 'High Risk" behaviour: 1. Hetero or Homo sex without condom with more than one partner during same period or change partners one after another, so u may have lost track of the other person's health status, esp. those who go for 'one-night stands'.. 2. Sharing of needles for medicine or 'drugs' 3. Regular visit to Barbershop for shaving where the razor is shared 4. Recent Body-piercings 5. History of receiving recent bloodtransfusion during a surgery 6. Vaccination for Hepatitis B etc.. No direct questions like 'Are u a Homo?' are asked. And if asked, why worry? It is just to remind you that it is 'important' life-style factor you yourself should be aware of, as it is vital for the patient's health, though u do not see any direct link !! Invariably, 'one-in-ten-thousand' person will write 'yes' as answer !! So, nobody is expecting a 'true' answer so long as you reply correctly to your 'Inner Conscience" !!! This is all part of the first segment of Donor Selection known as "Self-Deferral", which according to researchers is the 'most important' step in Donor selection. Why ? Read On........ This is meant for a person to 'Read' and decide for himself whether he would like to give blood after being reminded of such situations where accidental introduction of HIV or Hepatitis Viruses might have taken place in his Body ! If so, politely back-up from giving blood....No questions asked. It is up to you to disclose the reason for which u find yourself unsuitable for blood donation. By giving Blood Donation and hiding your 'status' of 'Risk Behaviour', you might Actually 'Harm' your Friend ! Because one can never be sure of 'his own health' if he has indulged in these activities, reason being: 1. U might be in "Window Period" of an infection when it is present in your blood and can be transferred to person receiving your blood, BUT YOU YOURSELF FEEL HEALTHY AND WITHOUT PROBLEM, 'till the window period is OVER' and u start feeling ill ! Or you may continue to feel 'normal' and be a 'Carrier" of the infection.......the person receiving your blood will fall ill!! What Next ? After u have decided to go ahead and give blood donation, a Doctor will interview on 'one-to-one' basis and ask you a series of questions to make sure that you might have answerer Self-deferral questions 'reliably'! If he has slightest doubt, he will 'reject' you as a donor. Next he will examine your Arms for checking any signs for previous needle pricks. This rules out 'professional' donors (who sell blood for money) posing as patient's relatives and those who have hidden the info regarding needle injections...... If one can pass his way thru' all this, the Blood you donate is tested for HIV, Hepatitis B & C, Syphilis and Malaria. If there is slightest hint of Positivity, it will be rejected and destroyed ! BUT, BUT, BUT, this testing procedure fails again "IF YOU ARE IN WINDOW PERIOD" !!! Because then the infection is too weak to be detected. Blood Banks use most sensitive tests for these infections, still there is a small 'window period' of a few days during which infection fails to be detected and the 'unfortunate' recipient of such blood suffers ultimately ! So, we come back to the first point of "Self Deferral". We, as responsible and sincere citizens and members of society, and most importantly - Relatives or Friends of the patient whom we are trying to 'help', should answer and respond to self-deferral questionnaire 'most honestly'. In short: "If you are in Doubt, Don't Donate Blood" You will Never Regret Your Decision ! Hope i have been able to explain it all clearly....... So, stop sulking and keep smiling, as there are many other ways to be of service to humanity, than 'overloading' the bloodbanks with such donations that will ultimately go down the drain !!! Love u all !!!!!!!!!! Monty ____________________________________________________________________________________ It's here! Your new message! Get new email alerts with the free Yahoo! Toolbar. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/toolbar/features/mail/
