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{"id":58770,"date":"2025-01-16T11:00:18","date_gmt":"2025-01-16T16:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/?p=58770"},"modified":"2025-01-16T14:03:27","modified_gmt":"2025-01-16T19:03:27","slug":"giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving Life to the History of Blood Transfusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><em>By Ben Richardson ~<\/em><\/p>\n<p>January is National Blood Donor Month, and many people will celebrate by <a href=\"https:\/\/medlineplus.gov\/bloodtransfusionanddonation.html\">volunteering to give blood<\/a> to those in need. But this generous act has a long history of roadblocks and detours related to the question of who should be allowed to donate. In many respects, the way in which different societies have responded to this challenge can tell us a lot about not only the prevailing scientific theories but also about the moral and political values that underpin them.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58873\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58873\" style=\"width: 340px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58873\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/blood-transfusion-from-animal-to-human-nlm_101435541-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?fit=969%2C1600&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"969,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Blood Transfusion from Animal to Human NLM_101435541\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>“Blood Transfusion from Animal to Human,” Clysmatica Nova, Johann Sigismund Elsholtz, 1667<br \/>\nNational Library of Medicine #101435541<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?fit=182%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?fit=620%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-58873\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?resize=340%2C561&ssl=1\" alt=\"A black and white woodcut depicting the transfusion of blood from a sheep to the arm of a human\" width=\"340\" height=\"561\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?resize=620%2C1024&ssl=1 620w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?resize=182%2C300&ssl=1 182w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1268&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?resize=930%2C1536&ssl=1 930w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1387&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Transfusion-from-Animal-to-Human-NLM_101435541-1.jpg?w=969&ssl=1 969w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58873\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">“Blood Transfusion from Animal to Human,” <em>Clysmatica Nova<\/em>, Johann Sigismund Elsholtz, 1667 <br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101435541\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101435541<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Following British physician <a href=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2018\/02\/06\/an-anatomical-essay-on-the-movement-of-the-heart\/\">William Harvey\u2019s<\/a> description of the human circulatory system in 1628, researchers across Europe began attempting to transfer blood from one organism into another. However, the first successful transfusion was not conducted until 1666, when <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/23499352\/\">Richard Lower<\/a>\u2014who later became physician to King Charles II\u2014removed blood from a dog and replaced it with that of another canine. Up until this point, most researchers believed that blood transfusion was impossible, or at least well beyond the capabilities of current science.<\/p>\n<p>In 1667, the French doctor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.smithsonianmag.com\/smart-news\/350-years-ago-doctor-performed-first-human-blood-transfusion-sheep-was-involved-180963631\/\">Jean Baptiste Denys<\/a> reported the first successful transfusion involving humans when he injected blood from a calf into a patient suffering with psychosis. Unfortunately for Denys, the recipient died soon after\u2014most likely due to a hemolytic reaction\u2014and he was put on trial for murder. Though Denys was eventually acquitted, outcry over his actions and similar adverse reactions around this time led most countries to institute a ban on all blood transfusions involving humans and the practice fell into disrepute across Europe.<\/p>\n<p>That was true until 1818, when <a href=\"https:\/\/pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/17847699\/\">James Blundell<\/a> saved the life of a women who was suffering from a post-partum hemorrhage by providing blood that came directly from her husband. In carrying out the procedure, Blundell demonstrated the practical validity of <a href=\"https:\/\/pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/articles\/PMC139049\/\">John Henry Leacock\u2019s<\/a> observation the year before that blood could only be reliably transmitted between members of the same species. This insight fundamentally changed the way in which physicians approached blood transfusions, and led to significant improvements in patient survival rates.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58876\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58876\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58876\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/the-transfusion-of-blood-nlm_101395962-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C825&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,825\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"The Transfusion of Blood NLM_101395962\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>a<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?fit=300%2C206&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?fit=840%2C578&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-58876 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?resize=840%2C578&ssl=1\" alt=\"A black and white etching of a man donating blood to a woman lying in bed surrounded by doctors\" width=\"840\" height=\"578\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C704&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?resize=300%2C206&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?resize=768%2C528&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?resize=840%2C578&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/The-Transfusion-of-Blood-NLM_101395962-1.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58876\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">“The Transfusion of Blood,” <em>Harper’s Weekly<\/em>, 1874<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101395962\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101395962<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>However, it turned out that not just any blood was suitable for donation. In 1901, the Austrian-American physician <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1046\/j.1365-2141.2003.04295.x\">Karl Landsteiner<\/a> identified the first three blood groups in humans: A, B, and O. Over the course of his detailed research, Landsteiner found that matching the blood types of donors and recipients significantly reduced the rate of adverse reaction among his patients. This breakthrough led to the first successful blood transfusion using ABO compatibility testing, which was carried out by Dr. Reuben Ottenberg at Mt. Sinai Hospital in 1907.<\/p>\n<p>Soon afterward, researchers in <a href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1046\/j.1365-2141.2000.01827.x\">Belgium, Argentina, and the U.S.<\/a> independently discovered that sodium citrate could be used as a chemical anti-coagulant, which allowed blood to be stored for months rather than days at a time. This finding paved the way for the first blood banks, which were launched in both Britain and North America in 1937. To meet the high level of demand among patients, most banks initially paid individuals to donate\u2014which meant that their blood supply tended to come from some of the poorest and most desperate members of society.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58877\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58877\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58877\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/blood-bank-u-s-navel-hospital-nlm_101403827-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C907&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,907\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Blood Bank U.S. Navel Hospital NLM_101403827\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>a<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?fit=300%2C227&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?fit=840%2C635&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-58877 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?resize=840%2C635&ssl=1\" alt=\"A black and white photograph of a smiling man with a tube in his arm giving blood\" width=\"840\" height=\"635\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C774&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?resize=300%2C227&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?resize=768%2C580&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?resize=840%2C635&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital-NLM_101403827-1.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58877\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>U.S. Naval Hospital, Portsmouth, VA: Blood Bank<\/em>, ca. 1940<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101403827\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101403827<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58878\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58878\" style=\"width: 340px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58878\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/charles-drew-with-laboratory-apparatus-nlm_101584649x33-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?fit=1067%2C1600&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1067,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Charles Drew with Laboratory Apparatus NLM_101584649X33\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>a<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?fit=200%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?fit=683%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-58878\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?resize=340%2C510&ssl=1\" alt=\"A man in a white lab coat standing in front of a small table covered with scientific instruments\" width=\"340\" height=\"510\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?resize=683%2C1024&ssl=1 683w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?resize=200%2C300&ssl=1 200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1152&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C1536&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1260&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Charles-Drew-with-Laboratory-Apparatus-NLM_101584649X33-1.jpg?w=1067&ssl=1 1067w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58878\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Charles Drew with Laboratory Apparatus<\/em>, ca. 1940<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101584649X33\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101584649X33<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Immediately after the outbreak of World War II, the U.S. government established the first national blood collection program, and also launched the \u201cPlasma for Britain\u201d plan under the leadership of <a href=\"https:\/\/profiles.nlm.nih.gov\/spotlight\/bg\">Charles Drew<\/a>\u2014which sought to supply blood products to Allied troops fighting in Europe. Drew was the highest-profile African American working in the field of blood donation at the time and became the first Black man selected to serve on the American Board of Surgery. He is perhaps best known for pioneering the use of mobile collection centers.<\/p>\n<p>However, when Drew became the director of the Red Cross Blood Bank in 1941, he strongly objected to the fact that the U.S. Army and Navy refused to accept blood donations from Black people, and subsequently accepted their samples only if they were stored separately. Drew argued that this policy lacked scientific merit, and as a result he resigned his post in protest the following year. Despite his actions, the Red Cross did not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redcross.org\/about-us\/news-and-events\/press-release\/2021\/the-color-of-blood--red-cross-reflects-on-its-blood-collection-hiistory.html\">integrate its national blood donation program<\/a> until 1948, while many state programs remained segregated up to the 1970s.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58880\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58880\" style=\"width: 840px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58880\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/first-mobile-blood-collecting-unit-nlm_101584649x72-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C818&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1200,818\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"First Mobile Blood Collecting Unit NLM_101584649X72\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>a<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?fit=300%2C205&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?fit=840%2C573&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-58880 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?resize=840%2C573&ssl=1\" alt=\"A black and white photograph group of nurses and doctors standing in front of a Red Cross van in the snow\" width=\"840\" height=\"573\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?resize=1024%2C698&ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?resize=300%2C205&ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?resize=768%2C524&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?resize=840%2C573&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/First-Mobile-Blood-Collecting-Unit-NLM_101584649X72-1.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 840px) 100vw, 840px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58880\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Charles Drew with the First Mobile Blood Collecting Unit<\/em>, 1941<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101584649X72\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101584649X72<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58881\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58881\" style=\"width: 340px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58881\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/small-town-americans-have-big-hearts-nlm_101438458-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?fit=1113%2C1600&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1113,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"Small Town Americans Have Big Hearts NLM_101438458\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>a<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?fit=209%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?fit=712%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-58881\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?resize=340%2C489&ssl=1\" alt=\"A poster with a photograph depict a group of people in a field holding a banner that reads "Small Town Americans Have Big Hearts"\" width=\"340\" height=\"489\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?resize=712%2C1024&ssl=1 712w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?resize=209%2C300&ssl=1 209w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1104&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?resize=1068%2C1536&ssl=1 1068w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1208&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Small-Town-Americans-Have-Big-Hearts-NLM_101438458-1.jpg?w=1113&ssl=1 1113w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58881\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>Small Town Americans Have Big Hearts<\/em>, American Red Cross, ca. 1981<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101438458\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101438458<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>During the post-war period, attitudes toward blood transfusion changed rapidly. In particular, patients grew wary of the procedure due to the rising rate of hepatitis transmission in the U.S. Throughout the 1960s, a series of reports indicated that this increase was due to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S0887796305800306?505a\">high incidence of hepatitis<\/a> among professional donors. For this reason, groups like the Red Cross advocated for a move to volunteer-only blood donations\u2014culminating in a 1978 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruling that all samples had to be labeled \u201cpaid\u201d or \u201cvolunteer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Concerns about viral transmission were not limited to hepatitis though. Soon after HIV tests became available in 1985, the Red Cross began screening donations for the illness. That same year, the FDA issued a lifetime ban on homosexual and bisexual men giving blood\u2014largely due to an erroneous belief that HIV was a \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gmhc.org\/gay-blood-ban\/\">gay disease<\/a>.\u201d Many physicians argued that this policy was based on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redcross.org\/about-us\/news-and-events\/press-release\/2020\/statement-on-updated-fda-donor-eligibility-criteria.html\">flawed logic<\/a>, as similarly high-risk groups\u2014including prostitutes and intravenous drug users\u2014were only banned for a year.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_58882\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-58882\" style=\"width: 340px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58882\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/2025\/01\/16\/giving-life-to-the-history-of-blood-transfusion\/you-cant-get-aids-by-giving-blood-nlm_101447788-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?fit=1003%2C1600&ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1003,1600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"You Can’t Get AIDS by Giving Blood NLM_101447788\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"<p>a<\/p>\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?fit=188%2C300&ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?fit=642%2C1024&ssl=1\" class=\"wp-image-58882\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?resize=340%2C542&ssl=1\" alt=\"A red poster with white writing that reads "You Can't Get AIDS by Giving Blood"\" width=\"340\" height=\"542\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?resize=642%2C1024&ssl=1 642w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?resize=188%2C300&ssl=1 188w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?resize=768%2C1225&ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?resize=963%2C1536&ssl=1 963w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?resize=840%2C1340&ssl=1 840w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/You-Cant-Get-AIDS-by-Giving-Blood-NLM_101447788-1.jpg?w=1003&ssl=1 1003w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 340px) 100vw, 340px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-58882\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><em>You Can’t Get AIDS by Giving Blood<\/em>, American Red Cross, ca. 1985<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/resource.nlm.nih.gov\/101447788\"><em>National Library of Medicine #101447788<\/em><\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Following the development of rapid antigen tests in 2013, the FDA revised its guidance concerning blood donation and recommended a uniform one-year moratorium for all high-risk populations\u2014including bisexual and gay men. This moratorium was reduced to three months in 2020 due to improvements in testing and a shortage of donors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, in 2023 the FDA overturned the last remaining eligibility criteria for blood donors based on sexual orientation and moved to a screening system solely based on recent health history.<\/p>\n<p>From the earliest ban on transfusions involving humans to more recent restrictions on donation among African Americans and gay men, perceptions of who can give blood have been shaped by social, political, and economic forces that have affected many lives. In the United States today, almost anyone over the age of 17 can donate, and what few restrictions remain are mostly related to overall health. So if you do decide to participate in National Blood Donor Month, you too can be part of a 400-year-long history of research and debate that has made this life saving act a possibility for almost everyone.<\/p>\n<p><em>To learn more about blood donation and how you can give blood, visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cc.nih.gov\/bloodbank\">NIH Blood Bank<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.gov\/givingequalsliving\/giveblood\">Giving=Living Campaign<\/a> from the Department of Health and Human Services, or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.redcrossblood.org\/\">American Red Cross Blood Services<\/a> websites.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Ben Richardson, PhD, is a Collection Engagement Specialist and Public Historian in the User Services and Collections Division at the National Library of Medicine.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ben Richardson ~ January is National Blood Donor Month, and many people will celebrate by volunteering to give blood<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156494306,"featured_media":58841,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12763,4940351],"tags":[275516,273905,273907,21052,678876014,372225,993241,678875885,35350,133774,678875806,91365],"class_list":["post-58770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-collections","category-prints-photographs","tag-1600s","tag-1800s","tag-1900s","tag-aids","tag-blood-bank","tag-blood-donation","tag-blood-transfusion","tag-charles-drew","tag-fda","tag-hepatitis","tag-lgbtq","tag-red-cross"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Blood-Bank-U.S.-Navel-Hospital_feature.jpg?fit=900%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3xcDk-fhU","jetpack-related-posts":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156494306"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58770"}],"version-history":[{"count":71,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58770\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59474,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58770\/revisions\/59474"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/circulatingnow.nlm.nih.gov\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |