6 Madhya Pradesh children test HIV +ve; contaminated blood transfusions suspected
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Satna/Madhya Pradesh: A routine necessity turned into a nightmare for six families in Madhya Pradesh's Satna after their children, already battling severe blood disorder thalassemia, tested positive for HIV, which officials suspect was transmitted via contaminated blood transfusions at different hospitals, PTI reported.
All these cases were reported between January and May this year, and all the affected children - aged between 12 and 15 - are being treated under HIV protocols, an official said.
Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Rajendra Shukla ordered a probe into the matter and sought a comprehensive report.
"It is also being investigated whether the blood transfusion took place in other hospitals also or only in the government hospital," Shukla told reporters.
According to the official, six children suffering from thalassemia have contracted the incurable disease after receiving HIV-infected blood transfusions at the district hospitals in Satna and Jabalpur, and a private medical facility in Madhya Pradesh.
Talking to reporters, Satna Collector and Magistrate Satish Kumar S said, "Children suffering from thalassemia were receiving regular blood transfusions. Six of these children were found HIV positive during routine testing. The affected children received blood transfusions at Satna District Hospital, Jabalpur District Hospital, and several other locations." "The parents of one of these children have also been found HIV positive," he said, adding that the parents of the remaining five children did not test positive.
An internal committee of the hospital is investigating the matter, which has been brought to the notice of higher authorities in the government, the collector said.
The affected children are between 12 and 15 years old and were given blood transfusions from the hospital's blood bank, according to an official.
After the case came to light, Devendra Patel, in charge of the blood bank at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel District Hospital in Satna, said four children had tested positive for HIV, and an investigation was underway to determine how they got infected.
Talking to PTI Videos, he said, "Either a contaminated needle was used or a contaminated blood transfusion occurred. These are the two main causes we suspect. Blood transfusion seems the most likely cause."
All these children suffer from thalassemia, and some of them have received 80 or 100 blood transfusions, he said.