It was suspected that three of them might have received infected blood through transfusion while the other three were possibly contracted HIV infection via contaminated needles/syringes during treatment.Kochi: As many as six children in the state are suspected to have contracted HIV through blood transfusion and contaminated needles/syringes during treatment at different hospitals in the past four years, data from the Health Department revealed.
It was suspected that three of them might have received infected blood through transfusion while the other three were possibly contracted HIV infection via contaminated needles/syringes during treatment.
However, only three victims have so far registered with the State Aids Control Society to receive treatment. Moreover, the actual numbers could be higher than what is being reported.
Recently, it was confirmed that two children had contracted the dreaded disease while undergoing treatment at the Regional Cancer Center (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram. A confirmatory test for HIV would be carried out on a girl hailing from Alappuzha, who is currently undergoing treatment at the RCC. The state government will bear the entire cost for taking her to Chennai for advanced diagnostic tests, officials said.
The child hailing from Idukki had undergone blood transfusion ten times ever since the RCC admitted her. She had been screened and tested for HIV by the Integrated Counseling and Testing Center (ICTC) under the Aids Control Society, but the result was negative. It was confirmed that she had contracted HIV through blood transfusion at the hospital after the confirmatory test of samples of her parents too proved negative.
The girl has already been registered with the integrated counseling and testing center for treatment. The State Aids Control Society would request the state government to bear the expenses of her treatment, it is learnt.
The first incident of hospital-acquired HIV infection in the state was reported in Mananthavady, Wayanad, in 2013 when an eight-year-old girl, a thalassaemia patient, contracted HIV allegedly through an unsafe blood transfusion at the district hospital.
Recently, two more children, aged 15 and 11, from Palakkad, and another eight-year-old child from Kozhikode had also tested positive for HIV. The parents of these three children, suffering from various diseases, had tested negative, and it was confirmed that they had not undergone blood transfusion during treatment, fueling suspicion of possible of HIV infection from contaminated syringes. The three kids, excluding the one hailing from Kozhikode, has already been registered with the ICTC and are currently undergoing antiretroviral therapy.
According to Dr. M.R. Ramesh, director, State Aids Control Society, ensuring safe blood is the only way to minimize the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections.
“Only three cases of hospital-acquired infection have been confirmed so far. We will examine if there are more such patients who have registered with the Society. The government needs to take up all expenses for their treatment. Transmission of infections through blood transfusion or contaminated needles are very rare. A case reported from Japan has confirmed that even the advanced Nucleic acid amplification (NAT) tests could not completely eliminate the risk of transfusion-transmitted infections. So, the only way out is ensuring supply of safe blood,” he added.
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