A friend has found that she can’t donate blood because she has a latex allergy and the bags are latex.
Someone thought that some of the latex could come back through the needle into her blood. I suspect that it is because the blood would react with the latex and render it useless. However, I can’t find anything to support this. Anyone with knowledge about this?
My assumption would be that some facilities still use latex gloves, not the bags that the products come out of or go into.
The Red Cross says “If you are allergic to iodine, tape or natural latex rubber, tell the interviewer, so that the donation staff can substitute other materials.”
This is because they swab the injection site with iodine (although some places have switched to alcohol because of allergies), tape a cotton swab on the site when they’re done and tubes to your arm while collecting, and may use latex gloves.
No one should be excluded from donating blood because of an allergy to latex. The donated blood would be fine for another person to use and would not “react” with the collection bag.
Red Cross blood donation guidelines.
The only possible reason I can think of for avoiding donation is if the allergic reaction to latex is so severe (i.e. an anaphylactic response) that just being in the vicinity of where latex bags/gloves are used could cause a serious reaction through accidental exposure. I suspect that sort of deferral is quite rare.
No, they aren’t. Blood bags are plastic (PVC, AFAIK). The only latex I can think of in the process is in the gloves they wear, and maybe a constriction band, both of which can be substituted for.
what Nametag said. Blood bags are made from PVC
Latex gloves are even becoming rare in some places. There are other, less reactive products available.
Thanks, everyone!
Can someone confirm that nothing that was in the bag would be able to get back into the bloodstream? Or am I naive?
Even if the bags were latex (as mentioned, they aren’t) I can’t see how the latex particles could “swim upstream” through the blood and into your arm. (The bag is placed below your arm, to take advantage of gravity.)
I donated blood recently, and they asked everyone if they had a latex allergy so that they’d know which gloves to use. (Although one of the nurses used non-latex gloves because she was allergic. Given that she worked in the blood center all day and didn’t have any problem, I don’t think it likely a donor would.)
If you’re giving whole blood, gravity pulls the blood down into the bag so there’s no reason why it would get back into your bloodstream.
If you are giving blood parts, some of your blood cells do go through tubes, get spun and get put back into your body. Also, you are fed anticoagulant, water and sugar from IV bags but I don’t think the material in those bags could possibly be swept into your arm in any way.
Have your friend double-check, because I’m sure people with latex allergies can still give.
Zyada If you’re asking if there is some sort of valve to prevent back flow, the answer is no, but Even venous blood has some pressure, plus gravity* is in play as well. The chances of anything, including the donor’s blood backing up into the patient are so small, as to be nonexistant.
The blood bag the donor’s blood goes into has a small amount of citrate for anticoagulation, otherwise, there really isn’t anything but the donor’s own blood to question.