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Though blood transfusions have the potential to save lives, the high-risk nature of blood donations make for a strict screening process for donors.

“We consider both the health and safety of the donor, as well as the recipient, in making the evaluation,” said Jaime Rivas, platelet coordinator at the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.

According to the center’s guidelines, which comply with Food and Drug Administration regulations, donors cannot have had cold or flu symptoms in the 24 hours before they donate and cannot have had dental work, including teeth cleaning, in that time period.

Other groups which are deferred include people who have had a tongue, nose or genital piercing or a tattoo in the last 12 months.

“This is to prevent the transmission of hepatitis,” said Linda Goss, outreach and recruitment coordinator at the UCLA Blood and Platelet Center.

Blood transfusion recipients are 7,000 times more likely to transmit hepatitis in a blood transfusion than HIV, she added.

Hepatitis is also much more difficult to detect in blood screening because of its unique nature.

“It can be in any blood component – platelets, blood cells, plasma – because it’s a viral disease,” Rivas said.

HIV, on the other hand, can be detected by checking for antibodies, which are present in the plasma of the blood, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

HIV attacks the white blood cells of the immune system and may lead to AIDS when the body can no longer protect itself from common viruses and other diseases.

To spot high-risk donors, each potential blood donor must fill out a survey, answering 42 questions that may lead them to be deferred for a year or receive an indefinite referral, when they are prevented from ever donating blood.

One of the questions that would lead to a permanent deferral is whether the person has ever injected drugs that were not prescribed by a doctor.

“This behavior is high-risk for transmitting hepatitis and AIDS,” Rivas said.

People who have lived in Europe for a total of five years or more since 1980 are also not allowed to donate blood.

This is a preventative measure for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, which is similar to mad cow disease and can be transferred through blood, Rivas said.

According to the CDC, the one reported case of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in the United States was in a young woman who contracted it while residing in the U.K. and developed symptoms after moving to the United States.

Malaria, also carried in blood, is caused by a parasite transmitted by mosquitoes, said Jean Leavitt, clinical lab scientist in pathology and lab medicine at UCLA. Anyone who has taken anti-malaria medication and traveled to a malaria risk area must wait 12 months before donating blood, and must wait three years if the person has had malaria or emigrated from a malaria risk area, she said.

Another geographical consideration is whether the person has lived in or visited Central West Africa.

“There is a strain of AIDS that cannot be detected in any tests we have,” Rivas said.

People who have been to jail recently may be turned down as well.

“If you were imprisoned for more than three days then you have to wait a year to donate blood,” Rivas said. “This is because of the risk for hepatitis and AIDS and other diseases.”