Jaundice - Whole Blood and Components

Essential information

Obligatory

Must not donate if:

1. Jaundiced or has a history of jaundice.
2. If the cause of the jaundice was viral see the specific entry for that condition.
3. If the jaundice was related to malignancy or to its treatment.
4. If the cause of the jaundice was not known, treat as Hepatitis of unknown cause.

Discretionary

1. If fully recovered from a non-viral cause of jaundice (this includes, but is not limited to, physiological jaundice of the newborn, gall stones and drug reactions), accept.
2. If due to Gilbert's syndrome and not visibly jaundiced, accept.

Supporting information

See if relevant

• Gall bladder disease
• Hepatitis
• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Hepatitis C
• Hepatitis E
• Hepatitis of unknown cause
• Liver disease
• Malignancy

Additional information

Transfusion laboratories are unlikely to use blood that appears jaundiced. This means any visibly jaundiced donation is likely to be wasted.

Many things can cause jaundice. The concern is with infectious causes that might be passed on by a transfusion.

Reason for change:

A new 'Obligatory' entry for jaundice related to 'Malignancy' has been added together with links to 'Hepatitis of Unknown Cause' and to 'Malignancy'.

Version details:

WB-DSG Edition 203 Release 01 (01 June 2010)