In article
<b6912d6b-6133-409b-865e-1cdaf99735e6@l16g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,

I would be pretty sure that most people who do the actual blood
collection would have no idea why the rules are what they are. Moreover,
even if they knew, they would not be able to bend the rules for you. I
have no idea why that would be important for a homologous blood donation.

I do remember hearing, many years ago, that corneas were harvested from
a corpse who had died from an unknown cause. The person receiving the
cornea transplant ended up dying from rabies that had killed the donor.

Bill

In article
<b6912d6b-6133-409b-865e-1cdaf99735e6@l16g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>,

The blood bank people have had many problems with blood being
contaminated with things that hadn't been discovered yet, so they are
pretty careful.  It is true that the people who ask those questions at
the blood bank generally don't know many details.

My daughter has given blood for many years.  One day, after being in the
UK for several months, she went in to donate blood in the US, and they
said they not only wouldn't take it, but they wouldn't take her blood
for three years, due to concerns about BSE.  The three years are up, so
she's back to visiting the blood bank.

If I was sufficiently concerned about other people, I should also be
concerned about myself.  You might wish to visit your doctor and ask for
advice.  Some simple blood tests should not only reassure you about your
own health, but also about those around you who might come into some
kind of contact with you and your bodily fluids.

In article <b6912d6b-6133-409b-865e-1cdaf99735e6
@l16g2000yqo.googlegroups.com>, tombates@city-net.com
says...

The very tiny risk on unknown disease that could not
have been screened at transplant is what they are
rejecting you for. It does not matter how healthy you
are years later, the notional risk is still there, and
they would simply rather not take the risk at all.

Furthermore, even though as a corneal transplant
recipient you do not take immunosuppressive drugs like
other organ transplant patients, you still would likely
build up antibodies due to the transplanted tissue, just
as all transplant recipients do. That in itself is
enough to disqualify you from donating blood. Welcome to
the club.

I found this after a quick Google search:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/c4t276  

On page 2 of 3 pages
"Could I catch any disease from the transplant?"
 
"The medical history of the donor is checked to exclude
the following conditions: rabies, Creutzfeldt-Jakob
disease (CJD) and diseases of the nervous system of
unknown cause. Blood is taken from all donors to
exclude hepatitis B, hepatitis C and the AIDS virus.
While the cornea is in the Eye Bank it is very carefully
examined to reduce the risk of infection with bacteria
and fungi; as a result of these checks the risk is
tiny. However, because of this tiny risk, once you have
had a corneal transplant you will not be able to be
a blood or organ donor."

Dennis (Type 2, Kidney Transplant 1995)