[moovova]

I located an FDA document (May 2023), making donor recommendations. It's a PDF, if you're comfortable with downloading it. Of particular interest...starting on Page 8, items 1-15. The recommended deferrals are onerous to assess. Imagine the intrusive questionnaire an individual has to fill out just to give blood. Will people be honest? Heck, will people even remember the particulars of their recent hookups? There appears to be improved testing for HIV, maybe the donors that pass on tainted blood will be filtered out better. You're probably familiar with all of the below.

"https://www.fda.gov/media/164829/download

Here's the short FDA article if you'd rather start there.

Recommendations for Evaluating Donor Eligibility Using Individual Risk-Based Questions to Reduce the Risk of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Transmission by Blood and Blood Products

I found the above while reading a JAMA article that scares the heck out of me, discussing the individual donor questionnaire above. Absolutely crazy.

Redefining Blood Donation—Path to Inclusivity and Safety

[fwdude]

The complaints about deferring people on PrEP or PEP is absolutely INSANE. These people are on PrEP exactly BECAUSE they are, by definition, in a very high-risk group for HIV infection. Taking the medication doesn't change that.

Consider also that those taking PrEP feel bullet-proof and, as a consequence, expose themselves to much more risky sexual situations that they would have otherwise. The PrEP group has been proven to be at much higher risk for other dangerous STD's because they forego other secondary safety measures, such as condoms. So, instead of HIV, screeners have to be concerned about early syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia infections, many of which are quickly becoming antibiotic resistant.