Hospital accused over transfusing HIV infected blood in children

In Jodhpur, the second largest city in the State of Rajasthan, India, a government hospital have been found guilty of infecting eight children with HIV positive blood. These kids had been transfused with infected blood. In addition to this, 43 children were diagnosed with Hepatitis C while having blood transfusion.

Thalessemia Society, a non governmental organization brought into light the shocking truth about 51 people having been infected by blood transfusion at Umaid Hospital in Jodhpur. As usual, the blame game has started to unfold as the latest reason is set to be shouldered on the critical medical facilities which could not detect impure strains in the blood.

The Umaid Hospital- a government run hospital in the city provides blood at no cost for children who are suffering from thalassemic and require blood transfusions at frequent intervals. Thalassemia is an inherited autosomal recessive blood disease. In thalassemia, the genetic defect results in reduced rate of synthesis of one of the globin chains that make up hemoglobin.

Last December, a news channel from India reported that five children tested positive for HIV due to transfusion from this hospital. The Thalassemic Society conducted test on children who had blood transfusions at the Umaid Hospital in the past six months and found out eight children had HIV positive and 43 had contracted Hepatitis C.

In a country which has been plagued by controversy over ignoring the poor, the latest blunder confirms the stark realities. A place where people rely for having their lives saved is playing the role of a dictator gone crazy. The hospital authorities claim that they have been following the guidelines handed over by the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO). Unfortuantely, the major lacking facility is the ability to conduct a Nucleic Acid Test (NAT). The Nucleic Acid Test is a biochemical technique used to detect a virus or a bacterium. These tests were developed to shorten the window period, a time when a patient has been infected and when they show up as positive by antibody tests. There is not even one government hospital in Rajasthan with this facility, mainly because the infrastructure costs around Rs 3 crore and tests cost another 30 lakh. Without this test, it can take upto 3 months for the infection to be detected.

Dr R K Asaari, The Principal of the SN Medical College which is the parent body of Umaid Hospital was trying to find to defend the unforgivable facts looming over him. “We will screen the blood of these children to try and figure out how they contracted this infection”.