Hepatitis A and Organ/Blood Donation: Eligibility Explained

Question
Can a person who had Hepatitus A many years ago donate organs or blood?  Thank you for sharing your expertise.

Answer
If you declare that you had Hep A on your application for donation, you will excluded.  That is somewhat of a shame, because Hep A is completely different than B or C, since almost everyone who gets Hep A gets slightly ill, then recovers completely and is not infectious.  So, they would be reasonable candidates for donation.  Many people have no idea that they had Hep A in past, they just thought they had a prolonged stomach bug and never knew, but it shows up if testing in particular for it.  

For more info, check out www.cdc.gov or the red cross website.

Hope this helps....