Brazilians cannot donate blood abroad; understand why

Brazilians cannot donate blood abroad, in countries such as Ireland, Singapore and Australia. But why? This has to do with a measure of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines on blood donation.

What are these guidelines about, anyway? They state that if the donor:

“[…] his mother or maternal grandmother was born in South or Central America, he should be permanently excluded from donating blood unless a certified antibody test T. cruzi be available.”

Exactly, Brazilians cannot donate blood abroad due to the risk of Chagas disease. However, as far as epidemiological control in Brazil is concerned, the disease has decreased significantly in recent years. So why is there still a restriction?

The restriction is justified since the parasite that transmits the Chagas disease It can remain in a person’s body for decades. Therefore, even if there are no latent symptoms, the person donating blood can transmit the infectious agent through transfusion.

In which other countries can Brazilians not donate blood?

The WHO guidelines that determine that Brazilians cannot donate blood abroad are also used by Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, South Africa, Canada and the United States.

But there is a way around this situation: testing. The donor simply needs to take a test so that the candidate can confirm the safety of using his or her blood.

Immunologist Jaime Santana, from the University of Brasília (UnB), who has been studying the saliva of the barber bugs that transmit Chagas disease for decades, says that the government’s official data is an underestimate.

In other words, there is underreporting of the disease, since not all infected people seek medical help. Furthermore, people are still not informed about how to identify the barber bug and report it to the authorities so that the disease can be combated.

Regarding testing, Santana comments that it would be an important resource to prepare the health systems of foreign countries in case immigrants need specific treatments for this disease in those places.

Furthermore, the immunologist points out that the test is very cheap, just over US$ 1 (around R$ 5.15).

Restrictions on blood donation in Brazil

Okay, Brazilians cannot donate blood abroad. What about foreigners, can they donate blood here? It depends, since Brazil also has restrictions for foreign donors or Brazilians who have lived more than five years in Europe.

But again, why? Because of Mad Cow Disease, a disease that became known in the 1980s and 1990s after an outbreak in the United Kingdom.

Therefore, national legislation determines that people who lived during the outbreak of the disease in Europe are prevented from donating blood in Brazil. The justification is the risk of exposure to the Mad Cow Disease prion, which causes brain damage, killing neurons and creating brain damage.

In the case of Mad Cow Disease, it is not detectable by serological tests. In addition, it has the ability to remain inactive in the body of the infected person for many years. Therefore, donation is restricted by epidemiological surveillance criteria.