Giving blood if you go to Costa Maya

[davidaperryman]

My wife tried to donate blood today at a church sponsered event and was turned away because we have been to Costa Maya recently. They said there is the malaria threat.

 

Just so you will know.

[Runaway26]

I tried after going to Labadee (part of Haiti)....have been refused twice! First time I didn't know but I had already booked a second trip that included Labadee. This coming January, I'll be cleared to give blood again!

 

Diane

[checker]

I'm scheduled to give blood Wednesday and one of our stops was in Labadee.....but I did not get off the ship. Should I say I was in Labadee or just skip it and put the two stops where I did get off the ship? (Bermuda and Nassau)

 

Any thoughts!

[Techgirl]

I don't think it matters if you get off the ship or not. The Red Cross can advise you if it does. And you definitely should be honest about your travel locations. That is the only way we can insure a safe blood supply.

 

As a regular donor, I had my first "donation refused" after our first cruise. We had visited Roatan on the Norwegian Sea. They kept encouraging us to use insect repellent, but never mentioned a risk of malaria. If I remember correctly, the Red Cross said it would not make a difference if I had stayed on the ship.

 

I plan to donate before we go to Costa Maya in December.

[RADICALBURN]

The redcross has a list of citys in the carribean that don"t spray for bugs. If you go there you are exempted from giving blood for one year. And yes Labadee and Costa Maya are on the list as well as most of Mexico.

[checker]

Thanks for the replies! I will call and cancel my appointment. I'm so glad to have found this post. I wasn't wanting to deliberately fudge my trips, I just didn't realize it made a difference. I appreciate the diligence of the ARC in their screening practices.

 

Thanks again!

[Driftwoodgal]

I too have been kicked off the donation list because of a trip to Mexico and then a cruise that took us to Belize. I was told by the Central Texas Regional Blood and Tissue Center that I was ok to donate when I went to San Carlos Mexico, only to return and have them change their regulations. The CDC had not included the Sonora area, but CTRB&TC did. It was February and we were wearing sweaters as it was really cold that year. This year we did get off the ship in Belize, but didn't go past the shops at the pier. It was my understanding that if you didn't go into the rain forest that you were ok. I am on the bone marrow registry, give platlets, and blood. I really upset me when I was rejected for my donation. I am about 4 pints from being a 10 gallon donor.

 

It is so very important that blood is kept safe for the people that receive it. I just wish that everyone would agree on what you can do as a donor, and what isn't ok. I was so very thankful for the donors that gave blood that helped keep my dad alive for 6 more months. If more people would look at their donation as a gift of life to someone they love there would be more donors. When blood types aren't there for a surgery, then it can't take place. I remember getting my hair cut one day and I had just given platlets and had a wrap around my arm because of the length of time it used to take to donate, and the size of the needle. A guy made a comment about my arm decoration :rolleyes: and I said that I had donated blood. He responed back that he thought that was so stupid. He was a motorcycle driver.... I responded back to him that if he thought it was so stupid, I hoped that if he had a wreck and needed blood, that mine wasn't his blood type....

 

Thanks to all of you that do donate...... you are the silent angels that save lives of cancer patients to the person that goes in for an elective surgery that goes wrong. God bless you!