Ever donate plasma?

[laliwalden]

But would that keep you from donating to your own child? That is what the PP was saying. I can't donate because I had a bovine graft, but I was told I CAN do a direct donation for a family member if the correct forms are signed.

No, it would not keep you from donating to your own child. Only confirmed positives are reported to NDDR (national deferral donor registry). I would assume the PP mis-understood what was being told to her. This is quite easy to do. Being deferred from that company is totally spot on, even for a negative confirmatory.

 

[Muushka]

When you donate plasma thru a plasma donation center (not the Red Cross) it is going for the production of medicine and research. It is not directly being given to patients in a hospital setting.

Plasma is frozen after it is taken and has a shelf life of 10 years, not 1 like previously mentioned.

Also, it is not illegal to defer someone for a positive test result. If some tests positive, even if the confirmatory is negative, the donor must be deferred. And, that is not dependant on the company, it is a FDA guideline. There are some tests that you have a little more chance of continuing to donate.

Lets say you get a Hep B shot and do not inform us, your lab results will show up positive. Confirmatory may be negative, but it is too late. You will be done donating.

HBSB is not tested in donation screening. Right?
At least we never tested for it, it shows immunity to Hep B, which is what the shot is for.

Also, it is not illegal to defer someone for a positive test result. If some tests positive, even if the confirmatory is negative

You are correct. But if the test (the same test, (like HCV, the screening test) not the confirmatory test (like the RIBA)) repeats negative X 2, I don't believe the donor is deferred because it is considered negative.


Whoever questions this protocol, think of it this way. You are offered 1 of 2 pints of blood. One pint tested positive one time, just once, for Hep C but tested negative many times for HCV. The other unit has never tested positive. Which one would you want to receive?

 

[AnnaNonamus]

If I am understanding you correctly:

They drew your blood and it was positive for Hep C. On that same sample they repeated the test and it tested positive for Hep C.

They called you back for a re-test of Hep C and it was negative, twice. Correct? If yes:

Actually I think that they have followed proper protocol. When the test is repeated on that original sample, it is repeated in duplicate (which I believe is standard procedure for blood bank products (did it for many years).
So actually the blood was tested 3 times and it was positive at least twice. That isn't lab error. HCV screening testing, if I remember correctly, has a high false positive rate (somewhere around 10%). That is a problem with the procedure, not the lab or tech who performed it.

Then you had your blood drawn again and it was negative twice.

Do you know if they sent your blood out for the follow up testing called HCV RIBA?


I was only involved with the initial testing, the screening tests which included the HCV antibodies. I would give the positive results to the supervisor who would take it from there. She would send out the sample for RIBA testing. I am not sure how the deferral was made, if just a positive HCV and a negative RIBA is enough to defer someone or if both had to be positive.

But I do know that they need to protect the blood supply and anyone who tests positive, even just once (repeated twice on the same sample, of course) should be deferred.

My question would be the fact that this test was run at plasma center, if they did that follow up RIBA test that would have been definitive.

But if they tested that original sample the first time positive and second time (and should have been retested in duplicate) it was negative (on that original sample) I would question that protocol. And I would stop by my local Red Cross or somewhere where they actually do the testing on donors and talk with them about exactly what protocol should have been followed and what you can do now.

Good luck

I was never called BACK for a subsequent blood draw. They first tested draw A, from the first day I was in.

Draw A tested positive for Hep C.

Per procedure, they retested draw A twice. Both came back negative.

They tested a second sample, Draw B, which was also from the first day I was in (both A & B were from the same day), and it tested negative as well.

I have no idea if they followed up with further testing. All I know, is they put me in a room, scared the crap out of me, then told me it was all a mistake, but that because of a single false positive, I would be reported to all agencies and listed as unable to donate fluids or organs.

 

[AnnaNonamus]

No, it would not keep you from donating to your own child. Only confirmed positives are reported to NDDR (national deferral donor registry). I would assume the PP mis-understood what was being told to her. This is quite easy to do. Being deferred from that company is totally spot on, even for a negative confirmatory.

That could be- the way it was explained at the time (and it's been probably 7 years since I did it), was that I was no longer allowed to donate anything, period. The nurse didn't really sit there holding my hand and explaining it further to me.

If there ever IS an instance where one of my children needs something, it won't stop me from trying- I just don't know if it will stop me from being able to.

I'm not upset that I'm not allowed to donate. I'm upset that it potentially effects my children, over an error on the lab's end.

2 blood draws, and 6 tests, and only the first one gave a false positive. That is an error on someone's part. I'm not sure whose part, but that error is something that will effect me for life now.

A lot of people have no issue at all donating, this has just been my personal experience, and with this experience in mind, I don't recommend it at all.

 

[Muushka]

I was never called BACK for a subsequent blood draw. They first tested draw A, from the first day I was in.

Draw A tested positive for Hep C.

Per procedure, they retested draw A twice. Both came back negative.

They tested a second sample, Draw B, which was also from the first day I was in (both A & B were from the same day), and it tested negative as well.

I have no idea if they followed up with further testing. All I know, is they put me in a room, scared the crap out of me, then told me it was all a mistake, but that because of a single false positive, I would be reported to all agencies and listed as unable to donate fluids or organs.

Unless something has changed (which it may well have) that is not the protocol they are supposed to follow.

I would visit the Red Cross (preferably a testing facility) and speak with the RN there. She/he could look you up to verify what your center told you and probably do more than that.

I may be wrong (now, things may have changed), but when we tested positive the first time, repeat x 2, if they were both neg, the test was considered neg and the unit was released. If the repeat tested pos once and neg once, the test was considered positive and the follow up testing was done and the blood was discarded and the donor was notified.

2 blood draws, and 6 tests, and only the first one gave a false positive. That is an error on someone's part. I'm not sure whose part, but that error is something that will effect me for life now.

Pretty please, as someone who performed countless tests, stop saying they made an error. These procedures are put into place because FALSE POSITIVES can happen. It could be a bad bead (what is used in the testing), it could have been a contaminated well (something in it that was not visible to the eye), it could be anything. That is why the test is repeated, in duplicate and on a different 'run' or different batch of tests.

The facility that you had your test at has chosen to follow up your test in this manner. I happen to think they are wrong.
You have the choice of following this up with a blood bank, the one who you would donate to for your child's blood if they ever needed it.

Blood banks need blood. If there is a donor out there willing to donate, I am sure they would be happy to follow this up for you. Or let you know that what the facility you went to did the right thing and that you, in fact, are permanently deferred.

PS I believe the blood supply is safe and your children would be fine receiving someone else's blood.