LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Kentucky Blood Center reinstated eligibility for donors who were previously deferred from blood donation due to travel or residence in the United Kingdom, France, or Ireland after recent updated guidance by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The deferral was related to a theoretical risk of transmitting a variant known as mad cow disease (Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease: vCJD) to blood transfusion recipients.
Previous FDA guidance recommended indefinite deferral for people who spent time in the United Kingdom from 1980 to 1996 or France and Ireland from 1980 to 2001, or people who received a blood transfusion in the U.K., France, or Ireland from 1980 to the present.
The FDA has determined this is no longer a concern for donors who have previously lived in the United Kingdom and other European countries.
KBC has removed all indefinite deferrals for nearly 4,000 KBC donors who were affected by the previous guidance. Those donors can return to any KBC location immediately to resume donations.
KBC encourages those who previously refrained from donating blood due to their time spent overseas related to this deferral to visit a KBC donor center or mobile blood drive as soon as possible.
Donors will still see questions on the health history questionnaire related to time spent overseas, but that travel will no longer result in a deferral related to vCJD.
KBC urges eligible and potential donors to schedule an appointment for donation at any of KBC’s eight donor centers or mobile drives.
Donors can visit kybloodcenter.org or call 800.775.2522 to make an appointment or check eligibility. Appointments are preferred, but walk-ins will be accepted as space allows.
Donors are encouraged to answer their health history questions online on the day of their donation by completing their QuickPass at kybloodcenter.org/quick-pass.
