Canadian Blood Services and travel to India

I give platelets every two weeks.  This week I asked the screening nurse what impact will my trip to India have on my ability to donate blood.  Here is the story.

Vaccinations

I will need to wait three months after I have had a vaccination before I can give blood again.

Travel to India

India is a place where you can potentially catch malaria.  It takes up to a year for malaria symptoms to show up once you are infected.  I will need to wait for 1 year before I can give platelets  again.

After six months I can donate source plasma.  This is different from the normal plasma donation.  They use source plasma to produce other products and do not give it directly to a patient.

The result

If I plan to go to India once a year to study with Nancy Gilgoff I will be unable to donate platelets, plasma or whole blood.  I will be able to donate source plasma for about six months of the year, depending on how often I will need vaccinations.  If I need vaccinations each year then I will only be able to donate source plasma for three months or so, depending on when the vaccinations are required to be taken prior to the trip.

That’s too bad.

Written by

Jack teaches Tai Chi & Qigong in Dartmouth NS. He teaches class via Zoom and in person. In person classes are at North Woodside Community Centre as well as outdoors. Jack also teaches at the Canadian College of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (CCATCM). He teaches the students how to include Qigong in their Acupuncture practice.