If a person has been diagnosed with tuberculosis or is being treated for tuberculosis, he/she is not eligible to donate blood. Dr KS Satish, Pulmonologist, Fortis Hospital at Cunningham Road, Bangalore advises that a tuberculosis patient needs to wait until the treatment is successfully completed before going for donation.
One must understand that tuberculosis is a communicable disease that can spread from one person to another. Miliary or extrapulmonary tuberculosis (TB) can arise because of a primary infection or via reactivation, which can become an iatrogenic infection if the patient donates blood. The infection can further disseminate to the most vascular organs, such as the liver, spleen, bone marrow, and brain. Therefore, the person suffering from tuberculosis should not donate blood as it can spread to the person who receives the blood. Even patients with pulmonary tuberculosis should wait for a minimum of three months after starting effective antitubercular medicines in order to donate blood. Read more on how to prevent TB.
The person who had a medical history of tuberculosis and has successfully overcome the disease can donate blood. Not just active TB patients, people who are a defaulter of TB, or have a resistance form of TB should also not indulge in any kind of blood donation activity for the sake of your health and for the safety of the recipient. It is important to note that after three months of being cured of tuberculosis, the person can donate blood without any restrictions. Read more about Can you donate blood if you have asthma?
Things to take care of before blood donation:
Be sure that you do not have an active tuberculosis and it s been three or more than three months since you have been cured of tuberculosis.
Things to take care of after blood donation:
Take care of your diet and liquid intake for the next 48 hours after donating the blood.
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