Boy suffering from thalassemia stated to have contracted HIV

Berhampur(Odisha), Aug 31 (PTI) A four-year-old boy,suffering from thalassemia, is stated to have contracted HIVafter he was allegedly given infected blood at MKCG MedicalCollege and Hospital here. The hospital authorities set up a five-member panel andordered an inquiry into the allegation. "We have formed a five-member team for inquiry into theallegation following the direction of the districtadministration," Chief District Medical Officer of Ganjam,Manoj Behera said today. "Further action would be taken only after getting thereport from the experts," he added. As part of the inquiry, the team led by additional medicalofficer Saroj Mishra would verify the records of the bloodbank at the hospital and discuss the issue with the parents ofthe child. The boy from Sorada area of Ganjam district has beenreceiving blood transfusions at the hospital since he wasdetected with thalassemia when he was less than a year old. Sofar he has received transfusions at least 71 times with theblood bank at the hospital providing the blood, sources said. Of late, the child had not been keeping well and it wasthen that the parents took him for a blood test at a privateclinic. There they found out that he had contracted HIV. "We suspected it could be due to the infusion of infectedblood that he contracted the HIV," the boy’s fathercomplained. He, however, refused to disclose from where he gothis son tested. "The inquiry will reveal all these things," hospitalSuperintendent A K Behera said. He said before the infusion ofblood to a patient, the sample is tested. "If we find any infection in the sample, the blood isdiscarded," Behera said. "There is no chance of the childgetting infected blood," he claimed. The superintendent, however, raised doubts over the bloodtest carried out at the private clinic. PTI COR SKN CRSMJ