Blood stem cell donation medical guidelines

If you’ve been diagnosed with HIV (AIDS), you can't donate. If you’re at risk for the HIV virus, your current medical status will be carefully evaluated. More information about HIV/AIDS and how it is transmitted may be found at the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website.

If you suffer from common allergies to animals, the environment, medications, etc., you may be able to donate. If you have serious or life-threatening allergies to medications or latex, your health condition and allergies will need to be carefully evaluated.

In general, if you have mild to moderate osteoarthritis or degenerative arthritis, you may be able to donate. Mild to moderate arthritis is defined as having little impact on daily activities and is relieved by taking occasional medications. If you have arthritis affecting the spine, your condition will need to be carefully evaluated. If you have severe medical arthritic conditions such as rheumatoid, reactive, psoriatic or advanced stages of other types of arthritis, you will not be allowed to donate.

If you have asthma that is exercise-induced or is well-controlled and have had no attacks requiring oral (pill) or intravenous (IV) steroids or emergency care in the past 12 months, you may be able to donate. If you have asthma requiring regular/daily use of oral (pill) steroids, you won’t be allowed to donate.

Most diseases that may be defined as autoimmune disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia, will prevent you from donating blood stem cells. However, if you have a condition such as Hashimoto's or Graves' disease, you may be allowed to donate as long as the disease is well-controlled and you’re medically stable.

Common back problems such as sprains, strains and aches shouldn’t interfere with a blood stem cell donation. If you had a single back surgery more than 5 years ago and have no ongoing symptoms, you may be able to donate. If you have chronic/ongoing back pain (including persistent sciatica and/or numbness) requiring medical treatment (e.g., daily pain meds, physical therapy (PT), chiropractic treatments) you won’t be able to donate.

The following back-related issues must be carefully evaluated to determine whether you may donate:

• Single surgery 2-5 years ago
• Multiple surgeries, no matter how long since procedures
• History of fracture from an injury 2-5 years ago
• History of herniated, bulging or slipped disc in any location of the back
• Mild osteoarthritis involving the spine, neck or hip
• Diagnosis of scoliosis, if no history of surgery or if the rods/pins have been removed and you’re fully recovered
• Diagnosis of degenerative disc disease

If you have significant back problems and/or any questions regarding your medical condition, contact your donor representative.

If you have elevated blood pressure (hypertension), you may donate if your condition is well-controlled by medication or diet and if there’s no associated heart disease.

If you have breathing problems such as shortness of breath, sleep apnea and/or a history of chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), emphysema, pneumonia, a pneumothorax, pulmonary emboli, etc., contact your donor representative.

If you have a history of precancerous cells, you’re able to donate. If you have had cured, local skin cancer (basal cell or squamous cell), you may also be able to donate. If you have healed melanoma in situ, skin cancer, cervical cancer in situ, breast cancer in situ or bladder cancer in situ, you’ll be able to donate. (In situ cancer is diagnosed at a very early stage [stage 0] and is specifically called "in situ.")

If you’ve been diagnosed and treated for a solid tumor type cancer and it has been more than 5 years since completion of treatment with no recurrence, you may be able to donate. If your treatment included chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, you won’t be able to donate. If you’ve had any other form of cancer, you won’t be able to donate—no matter the length of time since treatment or recovery.

If you’re called to donate blood stem cells, you may not be able to donate if you show signs of a serious cold or flu at the time of donation. If you’ve been called as a donor, it’s important that you contact your donor representative if you develop cold or flu symptoms. Symptoms such as a fever greater than 100 F, a productive cough, sore throat, headache(s), etc., need to be carefully evaluated.

If your diabetes is well-controlled, you may be allowed to donate after careful evaluation of your current health status. In general, if your diabetes is well-controlled by either diet or oral (pill) medications, you may be able to donate. If you require insulin to treat diabetes or if you have diabetes-related serious health issues such as kidney, heart or eye disease, you won’t be able to donate. If you have questions regarding your diabetes, contact your donor representative.

If you have epilepsy, you may be able to donate after careful evaluation of your seizure history. Certain situations may be associated with developing epilepsy.

In general, if you have heart disease, you can’t donate. This includes a prior heart attack, any history of angioplasty, cardiac bypass surgery, heart valve replacement surgery or pacemakers. However, some heart conditions such as well-controlled irregular heartbeats (arrhythmias), mitral valve prolapse or successful cardiac ablation don’t necessarily prevent donation. Your situation will be evaluated on an individual basis.

If you have a history of a stroke, a transient ischemic attack (TIA), an intracranial hemorrhage (epidural, subdural, subarachnoid) or other significant brain injury or surgery in the brain—even if currently recovered and without symptoms—you aren’t able to donate.

You may donate if you have a history of fully recovered documented hepatitis A. If you’ve received a vaccine to prevent hepatitis, you’ll also be permitted to donate.

If you have any of the following, you’ll be carefully evaluated to determine if you can donate:

• History of, or at risk for, hepatitis B or C
• History of hepatitis or yellow jaundice (age 11 or older) without a known cause
• Close or intimate contact with someone with active hepatitis in the past year

If you have questions regarding hepatitis and donation, contact your donor representative.

More information about hepatitis and how it’s transmitted may be found at the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Website.

If you’ve been injured, hospitalized and/or had surgery in the past year, you may be able to donate after careful evaluation of your experience and recovery. Medical conditions that require surgery, hospitalization or treatment in an emergency room setting must be evaluated to protect your safety and provide the best possible outcome for the patient.

If you’ve received a common immunization, you may donate. Receiving an investigational vaccine in the past year, however, must be evaluated. Some immunizations (such as smallpox) will require assessment if you’re selected as a potential donor.

If you have serious kidney problems such as polycystic kidney disease and are over 40 years old or chronic glomerulonephritis (any age), you won’t be able to donate. If you’ve had a kidney removed due to disease, you may not be able to donate. However, if you donated a kidney to another person and are now fully recovered from that surgery, you may donate. You’re able to donate if you have a history of kidney stones.

If you have a serious liver disease such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C or Wilson disease, you aren’t able to donate.

You can donate if you have Gilbert's syndrome.

If you’ve fully recovered from a tick-borne disease, such as Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, human anaplasmosis or Rocky Mountain spotted fever, you’ll be able to donate. However, if you have chronic Lyme disease, you won’t be able to donate. The other tick-borne diseases mentioned aren’t believed to have chronic forms in humans.

Treatment with some medications may affect your ability to donate. Most often it isn’t the actual drug itself but the condition requiring the medication that would determine your suitability. Some medications may prevent you from undergoing one type of donation procedure, such as bone marrow donation, but not the other, peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation. If you’re currently taking medication(s), you may want to contact your donor representative to discuss the medication(s) and/or underlying condition.

If you have a mental health diagnosis, this does not automatically disqualify you from donating blood stem cells. In fact, many people with mental health diagnoses donate successfully. Your representative will ask you questions to understand your history and how you are managing your symptoms. You may be referred to one of our social workers for further discussion or support. Our goal is to ensure we can provide you the best support possible.

If you’ve received human tissues, such as bone (including bone powder for dental procedures), ligaments, tendons, skin or corneas, you may be allowed to donate, depending on the reason for the procedure.

If you received any of the following types of transplants, you won’t be able to donate:

• Human organs such as heart, lung, liver or kidney
• Peripheral blood stem cells
• Xenotransplant (live tissues from animals)

If you’ve had ear or body piercing in the past year, you may be able to donate if non-shared instruments were used. The use of shared non-sterile needles/instruments requires evaluation for possible signs/symptoms of infection for 12 months from the date of the piercing.

Blood stem cells can’t be collected at any time during pregnancy. If you’re pregnant (or attempting to become pregnant), you must be temporarily deferred from donating until fully recovered from the delivery.

If you’ve been called as a match and are currently breastfeeding, you may want to contact your donor representative to discuss your options.

If you’re currently pregnant or planning on becoming pregnant, you may want to consider donating umbilical cord blood after your baby is born. To see if this is an option at your hospital, see where to donate cord blood.

If you have or have had a sexually transmitted disease such as herpes, HPV, chlamydia or syphilis, you may be able to donate. Your case will be evaluated on an individual basis.

If you received a tattoo in the past year, your current medical status will be carefully evaluated for possible signs/symptoms of infection.

You may be able to donate regardless of where you’ve traveled. If you’re selected as a potential donor, recent travel to areas at risk for infections such as malaria or mad cow disease will be evaluated.

You may be able to donate if you have a history of a positive Mantoux (PPD) test. You may be able to donate if you’ve completed treatment for TB, if it has been more than 2 years and you have a clear chest x-ray. If you’ve had active pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) within the last 2 years, your current health status will require careful evaluation.