NoBlood

SARS blood donations banned
LONDON (Reuters) - Anyone ever suspected of having SARS is to be banned indefinitely from giving blood, the National Blood Service has said. A spokesman said: "Any donor who has returned from a SARS endemic area since November 2002 and has been ill with a fever and respiratory symptoms during their stay or within 14 days of their return to the UK will be permanently excluded until further notice". The NBS was also extending restrictions on donations from people who might be incubating the virus after they return home from SARS-infected areas. The NBS first advised on April 17 that donors returning from China and Hong Kong should defer giving blood for 14 days but the spokesman said that from Monday this exclusion would also cover Toronto, Singapore and Hanoi. The normal incubation period is believed to be less than 10 days, so 14 days allows an extra margin of safety. People who have been in close contact with known or probable cases of SARS will also be told to defer their donation for 14 days under the new measures. It is still not certain whether SARS can be transmitted through blood but an NBS spokesman said the measures had been implemented as a precaution. "Donors who have returned from a SARS endemic area more than 14 days previously may be accepted providing they can confirm that they have remained well for 14 days after their return to the UK," he added in a statement on Friday.