Attention Blood Donors who want to cruise

I went to donate blood last weekend and was rejected (for a year) because of the Panama Canal cruise we took in Feb. Specifically it was Puerto Quetzal in Guatamala that came up. I was honest in informing them of my travel. The registrar looked up all the ports of call I listed and apparantly only P.Q was a problem. I told her that I was only off the ship a couple of hours and saw no mosquitoes, much less was bitten by any, but she said that since they do not spray for malaria it was on the list. We have cruised many times before, but this has never been a problem. Just a heads up for any prospective donors who go cruising, you might want to check out who is on their "list". They told me I could donate to myself if needed. I kiddingly said that I should have just not told her of the travel, but she was very serious and said that the risk to someone receiving my blood could be disasterous. Everyone was disappointed as there was an urgent need for my blood type. I guess I won't stop cruising, but this was something to think about.

I donate in the UK, and because I literally got off the plane onto a bus off the bus onto the ship, then vice versa on the return in Jamaica this January, and have now been stopped giving blood for 6 months.

Did they tell you if you'll be able to donate in the future after X amount of time has passed? It surely can't be a permanent ban?

Did they tell you if you'll be able to donate in the future after X amount of time has passed? It surely can't be a permanent ban?

The OP does state in their first sentance that they were rejected from donating for a year.

Having had malaria, 43 years ago, I can tell you that they are very hesitant to take your blood as malaria lays dorment, and could be dormant forever. I always was under the impression that if you had malaria you couldn't give blood for 3 to 5 years. Several years ago when my FIL had Luekimeia, and needed platletts, I went to donate blood. They looked it up and said that if you have had malaria, you can never donate blood.

Just recently, I was checking again and the CDC and the American Red Cross says 3 years on blood donation. Maybe they changed the rules.

Huatulco is another port that will keep you from donating.

No, it is indeed one year if you have been in a Malarial region, but not if you have clinically exhibited Malaria. That is quite a different matter.

I have traveled frequently to Malarial regions, but have never had the disease, so I can only donate when I have a period of 12 months without any such trips.

I am not sure what OP means by "something to think about." Because I was in Ethiopia in February of last year, I was asked to wait until this February to donate, which I did. Not a lot of thinking required.

Bill

I had the same ban when I had visited Komoda Island as it wasn't on the 'approved' list. No problem with Semarang or Bali though.

Hi Folks,

I believe that Blood Donor restrictions vary from one country to another.

I did the Westbound Coral Repo FLL/YVR in 2006 and was not restricted from donating even after I provided all our ports of call (including Huatulco) to the staff at the clinic.

I was shocked to be restricted from donating for a year while at my Grand Mayan timeshare in Nuevo Vallarta (Nayarit). There is no problem in PVR apparently as the ship docks in the state of Jalisco. I was asked by the staff if I went outside the resort and replied, of course I did, drank, ate, enjoyed life just as thousands of other tourists do. What's ironic is that the resort is just across the river (about 1/2 mile from the state border between Jalisco and Nayarit.

Oh well, that's one less unit of blood for them I suppose, 4 if you consider you can generally donate up to 4 times per year.

Ciao for now!!!

Thank you very much for all of this info! I don;t donate myself, but I have friends that do. They have been asking about cruising, as they have not taken a cruise yet. I'll definitely let them know in advance to find out what they need to avoid when planning their vacations.

The plain ol' Mexican Riviera ports stop me from donating. If you venture just a little ways from the port in Puerto Vallarta (for example), you are barred from donating blood for a year. It's a bummer because I do like to donate as much as possible.

 

I am not sure what OP means by "something to think about." Because I was in Ethiopia in February of last year, I was asked to wait until this February to donate, which I did. Not a lot of thinking required.

This issue can be a trip-breaker for some people. I once met a woman who expressed envy that we went on an African safari. She explained that her husband donated regularly and that his blood was designated for a specific recipient who required frequent transfusions. The husband has a rare blood type and he was literally part of that other person's lifeline. So they simply didn't go anywhere that would disqualify him from giving blood.

I went to give a pint of blood yesterday and was turned down as I had been in Samana, Dominican Republic, during my cruise in January.

I now have to wait a year to donate again as this is classed as a malaria area.

We actually just walked off the tender, looked at the prices of the taxis and decided to walk for five minutes along the prom and then went back onboard.

If someone had told me it would stop me giving blood I would have stayed onboard.

I wonder if that would have counted as being in the Dominican Republic.

As a piece of weird information.........................

Ft. Lauderdale had a case of Malaria but the port didn't make it to the Blood Services "banned" list.

I went to give a pint of blood yesterday and was turned down as I had been in Samana, Dominican Republic, during my cruise in January.

 

I now have to wait a year to donate again as this is classed as a malaria area.

 

We actually just walked off the tender, looked at the prices of the taxis and decided to walk for five minutes along the prom and then went back onboard.

 

If someone had told me it would stop me giving blood I would have stayed onboard.

 

I wonder if that would have counted as being in the Dominican Republic.

it didn't matter. Visiting the port is the same as getting off for Blood donation purposes....

it didn't matter. Visiting the port is the same as getting off for Blood donation purposes....

True, true... those pesky mosquitoes can travel with the ship after it leaves... all those yummy tourists to bite and all... :p

smeyer is right. It doesn't matter whether you left the ship or not. As for the "something to think about" comment I made in the original post-- I meant that if you were a regular donor or donating for a certain person, you would want to know beforehand when traveling to a place that would disqualify you. NOT that you would have a choice whether or not to donate after the fact!

OP, you're right to draw people's attention to this because many do not know that the ports they'll be visiting are on the no-donate-list.

All I can say is it happens. I was restricted from donating for a year after we visited Puerto Vallarta in 2007. Even though the restriction was dropped 7 months later I was still restricted for the entire year.

Ironically the blood center called the day I became available again. :rolleyes:

I donate platelets once a month, occasionally twice a month. Not sure if the rules are different for platelets, but Mexico isn't listed in the material you have to read. I told them which ports I would be going to and they said they were all okay. Puerto Vallarta was one of them.

Give blood before you go, at least then it will only be one year from the date of your trip. Not plus from when you last donated........small comfort I know, but at least it is one more donation.

Good on ya for donating!

Bubbs & Blues :-)

We were blood donors in UK for many years but when we came to live in Australia they refused our blood because we had lived in UK during the 1908's and New Zealand say the same as my husband tried to donate while we were visiti ng there last year. This now applies to anyone who went to UK during the 19\80's because of Mad Cow but does not apply to USA citz or European ones where there was also Mad Cow? strange is it not:confused:

Roatan (sp?) caused me to have wait a year. An unplanned stop due to hurricane season.

Basically, if the CDC says there's malaria in the country, it pretty much bans you from donating for a year. Donated blood is not screened for malaria, so don't lie, it's not worth the risk to others.

If you go to this site: http://www.redcrossmichigan.org/guidelines.asp and look for "In-Depth Discussion of Malaria and Blood Donation" you'll find a list of countries that they say don't have malaria problems. If you visited somewhere not on that list, don't be surprised if they say no.

We used to donate on an irregular basis, but taking cruises has largely put a crimp on it because of the restrictions. (Costa Maya was our first stop that prevented us from doing it.)

You just never know. Sometimes they only bar you if you leave the urban area (Puerto Limon several years ago).