Reply #64: Should previously pregnant women be banned from giving blood?

[panzerfaust]

TRALI - transfusion related acute lung injury - now kills more transfusion recipients in the first world than AIDS, Hep-C, or Hep-B.

There is a growing consensus that TRALI is an immune mediated condition caused by preformed HLA & HNA antibodies which normally appear as the result of pregnancy.

I suspect that women make up more than half of those who donate blood.

Beyond the question of donation, how long should donated blood be stored? In the US it is 42 days, in Japan it is (I have been told) only 14 days before it is considered unfit for use (growing evidence that this is correct).

Given the financial interests involved, my prediction for how these questions will be answered in the next decade are: Homosexual donations (Yes); Previously pregnant women being barred (No); Length of storage (28 days) - whilst I think that the science would support: Yes, Yes, 10-14 days.