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A comment on James Harrison, whose blood donations saved >2M babies, has died. Parent comment

Re:James Harrison, whose blood donations saved >2M babies, h... by arp242 on Monday March 03, 2025 @05:11PM (#43247474)
It's been a while since I last donated blood, but last time I checked some conditions are hard to reliably check for especially in the earlier stages. For example, if I remember correct HIV is hard to reliably detect for the first ~6 months or so, as is Hepatitis B and some other conditions.

This is why you get a questionary every time asking whether you had unprotected sex, recently had a tattoo, etc.

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Re:James Harrison, whose blood donations saved >2M babies, h... by YokoZar on Monday March 03, 2025 @06:43PM (#43248230)
Those tests are faster now, however what remains entirely untested is simple sickness like colds. That's why you're supposed to call them if you get a cold within a few days of donating, they have no other way of knowing.
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