Are Catholics allowed to donate blood?

[Pattylt]

Thanks! Thought I missed something huge!

The thought of smallpox making a return is terrifying to any medical professional. We aren’t vaccinating for it now though at the first inkling of a return, that would change very quickly. It would be interesting to see what antivaxxers would do. This disease killed one third of Europe in the Middle Ages! Of course now we have much better treatments and drugs but it is such a rapidly moving disease that it’s often a matter of getting to treatment in time and overwhelming healthcare services…shudder…

Thanks foe correcting!

 

[Thomasbradley312]

People traveling to certain areas where smallpox is not 100% eradicated will often voluntarily get the vaccination.

I’m confused then to this prior statement. Is it eradicated or not?

 

[MiserereMeiDei]

Mary Baker Eddy says, no.

 

[phil19034]

Smallpox was eradicated and to date is the only human disease to have been eradicated. I believe the last natural occurring case occurred in 1977.
I believe it only exists at the CDC in Atlanta and somewhere in Russia as well. It has been a debate as to whether to destroy it completely. Those who say to maintain it say we still find things with the virus such as old envelopes etc; and also because its composition has been documented in theory someone could recreate it as a bioweapon.

https://www.livescience.com/65304-smallpox.html

I revised my post… I got switched up with Measles

 

[Pattylt]

I think it is eradicated but I’m not sure exactly how that’s defined. I think they might have found one small pocket area that showed signs of it still be in existence but I should look into more. Some areas of the world do still offer the vaccination…also not sure as it may be outdated information. So, I’ll go for %99.999 just to cover my tushy.

Until I research it further, I have no problem with being wrong in either case!

 

[CilladeRoma]

Those questions are asked of every donor. It is protocol.
And I am sure that no one noticed your medal, or had any idea what it was.

 

[dochawk]

Oh they tell you how much blood you have given total? That’s cool.

If I actually knew that number, I’d probably pass out just at the thought. . . . . *shudder*

Apparently I’m a risk for Mad Cow disease.

Does that entitle you to a free Denny Crane fan club pin?

The average adult has between 1.25 and 1.5 gallons of blood…so that would be 10 to 12 pints.

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.) Convert3:

Back in the 80s, at AOCS, I recall an odd lecture about how people were like cars, having about five quarts of water and oil, respectively, and that we could each function when down by about a quart, but that more was really bad . . .

[sidenote: the Northstar Cadillacs from '93 to about '08 used 7.5 to 8. Not for the extra oil, but so that they would still have plenty when banking. In any event, they actually displayed a warning when you were about two quarts low . . .]

I’ve also been temporarily deferred because the iron content in my blood was too low. So I just go eat a few rusty nails and the iron content goes back up…

I had that happen the only time I scheduled an appointment. They called weeks in advance to get on my calendar, as they were doing a large drive in East San Diego County.

There was a routine (for California) earthquake the day before, and everyone went out . . . by the time I got through more than an hour of waiting, I’d apparently lost all of my color (not that my irish skin has much to spare . . .), and failed the iron test on top of that . . . when they told me, “you probably shouldn’t give blood today,” I thanked them profusely . . . .

 

[Convert3]

Does that entitle you to a free Denny Crane fan club pin?

I don’t know! I don’t know what that is. Does it involve any needles?

 

[JulianN]

I didn’t say it was bad. I wondered what made him think it might be.

 

[dochawk]

I don’t know! I don’t know what that is. Does it involve any needles?

He was a character played by William Shatner on Boston Legal. Generally a parody of Shatner’s lousy acting, but he had early dementia, and regularly told people “I have mad cow disease.”

 

[Dr_Meinheimer]

Only it is our own. Otherwise, blech.