Can you donate blood if you have cold, fever or flu?

You can't have a fever above 99 degrees, cough, sniffles, or a runny nose on the day of donation.

Mansi Kohli | Published: June 7, 2017 10:50 am

A common cold is a viral infectious disease, which affects the upper respiratory tract and your nose, voice box and your throat. The basic symptoms for a cold include coughing, sneezing, running nose, fever and headache at times. A flu or called influenza, is a respiratory illness which is highly contagious. Symptoms of a flu include high fever, cold, fatigue and aching limbs and joints. In both of these situations, full body rest is recommended to the patient and the patient is given antibiotics and antivirals for the same. Dr Sudha Menon, Director – Internal Medicine, Fortis Hospital, Bannerghatta Road says that since you have been taking treatment, by using antibiotics and antivirals, you are advised not to donate blood for at least 10 days. It is advised that you are free of flu and cold symptoms, for at least 48 hours, before you donate blood. This is because donating with cold will lower your immune system, and will further push you towards lingering illness and slower healing times, and even pneumonia in some unfortunate cases. And you wouldn’t want to mess up with your body’s system and further attract chronic or serious complications, right?

Even though you cannot transmit germs or virus while you are sick while donating, one must understand that the rules of donating say you can’t have a fever above 99 degrees, cough, sniffles, or a runny nose on the day of donation. In other words, you should be completely free of cold or flu symptoms and feeling healthy before you donate. This is extremely important as your body will be unable to create antibodies, leading you towards more infection. If you have received any flu vaccination, then it’s perfectly acceptable for you to donate after receiving a flu vaccination as long as you do not experience any reactions to the shot. But then again you should wait for a minimum of 48 hours before blood donation. Read more about 10 things to keep in mind before and after blood donation

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Published: June 7, 2017 10:50 am

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