US Blood Donations - Cancun and Cozumel Malaria Deferral

[Pedro Burrito]

I tried to donate blood today but was deferred for a year because the US Food and Drug Administration just issued deferrals to anyone who has visited Quintana Roo. They cited, "rare cases of malaria reported."

I'm astonished about this. I even checked with my blood donation center in March before I booked the trip but these new regulations were just issued this month. There is a critical shortage of blood in my area and there were two horrific wrecks nearby yesterday with two fatalities and at least five people in hospital. There are many people who visit Cancun and Cozumel from my area and the blood donor person said that they have lost lots of potential donations because of this new ruling.

 

[boulderjohn]

I think there is sometimes a "wink-wink" sometimes yes, sometimes no observance of this rule.

I gave blood once and then heard about the Cozumel exclusion a month later. I called up the blood bank and was told not to worry--no such rule.

Then the next time I gave blood they started asking about places I'd visited, and the list included Cozumel and Cancun. I said yes. The guy hesitated for a few minutes and then let me give.

The next time (which was not much later), we got to the "where have you been?" place, and the guy got very confused. He finally turned the question sheet around, showed me the list, and asked me if I had been to any of those places. I read it carefully. It clearly said you cannot give if you have been to Cozumel or Cancun in the past year.

That means that when i gave previously, the people were ignoring the rule.

 

[mheaster]

My wife was deferred recently (approximately 2 months ago) after we visited Cozumel in August 2011. I didn't even attempt after I heard that.