Jharkhand SHOCKER! 7-year-old tests HIV-positive after blood transfusion; probe launched against…

In a shocking incident, a 7-year-old child tested positive for HIV in Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district after reportedly receiving a blood transfusion at a local blood in Chaibasa. The matter came to light on Friday after the child’s family accused the blood bank of transfusing HIV-infected blood to the seven-year-old thalassemia patient.

How did the child contract HIV?

Following the incident, the Jharkhand government constituted a five-member team to investigate the allegations, officials said, adding the probe team from Ranchi visited the blood bank and the hospital where the transfusion was done in Chaibasa on Saturday.

“The victim was tested HIV-positive over a week ago. A government-constituted probe team visited Sadar Hospital and the blood bank in Chaibasa as part of their investigations,” District Civil Surgeon Dr. Sushanto Majhee told news agency PTI.

However, the health official did not divulge details of the ongoing investigation, or elaborate on who headed the probe team.

As per reports, the victim, a seven-year-old boy suffering from thalassemia, was transfused with around 25 units of blood since he started visiting the blood bank. The child tested for HIV last week after which his family accused the blood bank of transfusing contaminated blood.

Was contaminated blood used for transfusion?

Following the allegation, a three-member local committee headed by Dr Minu, District Reproductive and Child Health (DRCH) officer, was formed to probe the matter, which is expected to submit its report soon after a thorough inquiry, Majhee was quoted saying.

Majhee revealed that as part of the investigation, the donors whose blood was used for the child’s transfusions would be tested for HIV to determine whether the victim contracted the fatal disease due to alleged contaminated blood used by the blood bank.

“The boy, who hails from a rural area under Manjhari police station limits, has tested HIV-positive. However, it would be premature to state that the infection resulted from blood supplied by the bank,” Majhee said, while noting that HIV infection could also occur due to other factors, including exposure to contaminated needles.

(With PTI inputs)