How safe is a blood transfusion?

Never let anyone give you the blood because you don't even know those people.
It is not safe at all.

They are not. We have to monitor the patient for possible allergic reaction to the blood. Blood borne diseases are rampant. Each unit collected cannot be individually tested for these diseases and the donor will not always know if they are infected or they choose not to tell. The cost to screen blood for Hepatitis B, C, HIV/AIDS, and others is astronomical. Transfusions are a like playing Russian Roulette. It's to late when you are diagnosed with a life threatening disease resulting from a transfusion. All the Medical community can say is how sorry they are. Many alternatives out there in place of transfusions. Become educated for it will benefit you.

Just because you don't hear about people dying from transfusions doesn't mean it doesn't happen. The Red Cross does not want this information out, nor does the Medical Community. Bloodless surgery and treatments are on the rise. Your life should be more precious to you.

Hi,

I hope this info helps...

Late in 2004, Professor Bruce Spiess said the following about transfusing a primary blood component into patients undergoing heart surgery: 鈥淭here are few if any [medical] articles that support transfusion actually improving patient outcome.鈥?In fact, he writes that many such transfusions 鈥渕ay do more harm than good in virtually every instance except trauma,鈥?increasing 鈥渢he risk of pneumonia, infections, heart attacks and strokes.鈥?br>
It surprises many to learn that the standards for administering blood are not nearly as uniform as one would expect. Dr.聽Gabriel Pedraza recently reminded his colleagues in Chile that 鈥渢ransfusion is a poorly defined practice,鈥?one that makes it 鈥渄ifficult to .聽.聽. apply universally accepted guidelines.鈥?

No wonder Brian McClelland, director of Edinburgh and Scotland Blood Transfusion Service, asks doctors to 鈥渞emember that a transfusion is a transplant and therefore not a trivial decision.鈥?He suggests that doctors ponder the question, 鈥淚f this was myself or my child, would I agree to the transfusion?鈥?br> In truth, more than a few health-care workers express themselves as did one hematologist, who told Awake!: 鈥淲e transfusion-medicine specialists do not like to get or to give blood.鈥?If this is the feeling among some well-trained individuals in the medical community, how should patients feel?

Play it safe...

P.S. also at risk of Aids among other things.

Smiles - Old Owl

Safe if u do it with all precautions.First u need to test the donor blood for blood group,cross matching,HIV,hepatitis B,Hepatitis c and some infections.Then while giving the blood monitor for fever,rigors,chills in case a transfuson reaction occurs.If it occurs stop the transfusion immediately.In modern days they take all these precautions before giving blood.So its prety safe.If u wana in percentage its almost 95%

It's pretty safe, donated blood goes through screening.

If one is having an operation, sometimes there are options of "donating" blood to oneself. Another words you go to the hospital some time before the procedure and give blood to be used for your own operation.

alternatives are much safer:

According to New Scientist, a recent flurry of studies highlighting the risks of blood transfusions has prompted the wide-ranging safety review. One study of almost 9,000 patients, led by cardiac surgeon Gavin Murphy at the Bristol Heart Institute, found that patients who had heart surgery between 1996 and 2003 were three times more likely to die a year after their operation if they had a blood transfusion. In the month after surgery they were six times more likely to die than patients who did not receive donated blood.


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http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19...

http://headdesk.typepad.com/my_weblog/20...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2008/a...

http://www.watchtower.org/e/hb/article_0...

There are no guarantees. People erroneously believe that all blood is tested for diseases before it is used on a patient. This is simply not accurate.

Many people choose to go in before an operation or other procedure where they need blood, and "bank" their own. This way, there is no risk, as you will simply be utilizing your ow blood.

My husband had a blood transfusion about 5 yrs ago. He didn't have any problems from it. He was very anemic and had lost a lot of blood. I think they filter it now.
Although afterward he was much more attentive than he had EVER been before so I used to tease him that he got a woman's blood. That no man could be that attentive by himself.

very safe. well, as long as you get it done at a hospital by proffesional doctors, its safe. some at home thing or getting a neighbor who thinks they could be a doctor to do it, not safe

Pretty safe. It's rare that you hear about someone contracting a disease from blood transfusions nowadays.

My boyfriend had a blood transfusion and he made it out of it safe.

it is not safe at all. I would never put someone else blood inside my body. I rather listen to Jehovah God