Blood on the Tracks
A recent trip to see my parents in the UK highlighted a unique dilemma for altruistic expat Brits around the world.
My Dad is suffering from a rare bone marrow disease which requires frequent blood transfusions to keep his red blood cell count up. I was motivated by the lifesaving benefits he’s received from the kindness of dozens of anonymous donors to take advantage of my brief visit and donate blood myself.
I used to donate blood regularly back the 1980’s and 1990’s. But for the last half-dozen years I’ve been prevented from making donations in the USA since I did not emigrate to California until August 1980. This means I am disqualified since the rules state:
You are not eligible to donate if:
From January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1996, you spent (visited or lived) a cumulative time of 3 months or more, in the United Kingdom (UK)
This is because of a fear that British Blood might be infected with Mad Cow Disease. The irony is that I was a vegetarian in 1980 and, indeed, have not eaten beef since at least 1970.
Oh well, rules are rules.
So it was with a sense of being on a mission that I set off one Sunday on a 45 minute drive from Nantwich to Northwich Cheshire to visit the donation center that was open that morning. I met with a kindly nurse who gave me a donor form, all looked good, I had my sleeves rolled up. Then I was asked when I was last out of the country. On finding I’d just left California, and would be returning there soon, my donation was refused. This was because we have West Nile Virus in mosquito’s in California and there is a minimum 28 day quarantine period for anyone coming from a visit to a West Nile infected area.
I can’t claim never to have been bitten by a mosquito since 1970. Indeed, there are mosquito’s in our backyard in the early summer. They’re well gone by November. No matter. Rules are rules.
It’s interesting to see how the world is trying to cope with disease vectors. Those of us who straddle continents are sometimes made aware of what lies beyond the known edge of medical knowledge, where doctors struggle with the lack of tests for certain diseases and rely on the honesty of strangers to prevent their spread outside of national boundaries.
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