Today I sent another cheek swab to the DKMS ( German Bone Marrow Donor File, @dkms_de ).🤗 I was asked to do because they need to know if I was infected with the cytomegalovirus. This is a herpes virus, harmless to healthy people, but quite dangerous for weakened people, such as leukemia patients.
I registered as a stem cell donor 14 years ago. At that time, it already worked very simply with cheek swabs. You could easily order a set at home. The tissue characteristics are stored in a database and compared with patients who are waiting for a transplant. So far there hasn't been a sufficient match, so I haven't yet been asked to donate cells. If someone needs my help, I'm there!🙃✌ ⠀ ⠀
⠀
(You aren't a bad person just because you don't! Tissue characteristics are sensitive data. I just want to raise awareness.)