It depends where you’ve travelled – most commonly, either you may only be able to donate plasma for a period, or you may be able to donate blood or plasma immediately.
Why wait to donate?
Even if you do everything 'right', it's possible that you can still catch something and not realise: especially in areas that have a high risk of certain infections carried by insects, animals or people. You could even feel well and have no symptoms at all.
Check out some of the blood-borne infections travellers can be exposed to:
Malaria
Malaria is the most common infection carried by mosquitoes in tropical and sub-tropical areas. You can give plasma as soon as you return, but you’ll need to wait four months to give blood or platelets. After that, we can test for malaria antibodies. We’ll be in touch if the malaria antibody test is positive.
Papua New Guinea (including docking in a port even if you don’t leave the ship, but not including airport terminals) has a risk of relapsing malaria. That means that even if you test negative for antibodies, we’ll only be able to use the plasma part of your donation for three years after your return.
Dengue fever
Dengue is another mosquito-borne infection in tropical and sub-tropical areas. There are sometimes dengue outbreaks in areas of far north Queensland, and we’ll always let local donors know when that happens.
You can give plasma as soon as you return, but you’ll need to wait 4 weeks to give blood or platelets.
That includes if you were docking in a port and never left the ship, but not inside airport terminals for a stopover.
Ebola virus
Ebola is a dangerous virus transmitted through contact with blood and other bodily fluids. There have been outbreaks across several African countries. You’ll need to wait eight weeks to donate if you’ve been to an affected area.
West Nile virus
Another virus carried by mosquitoes, West Nile virus can be found across most of North America, including the United States and Canada — surprisingly far from the Nile.
You can give plasma as soon as you return, but you’ll need to wait 4 weeks to give blood.
That includes if you were docking in a port and never left the ship, but not inside airport terminals for a stopover.
Zika virus
Zika is another mosquito-borne virus in some countries. All of those countries overlap with those that have a malaria or dengue risk, so we’ll ask you to wait before you donate.
The best thing to do is double check before you book. Check the travel eligibility quiz to see when you can donate.