Minor given HIV-infected blood

The boy, Raju, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district,  was given HIV-infected blood during blood transfusion by a doctor of a child hospital in Jaunpur.

Raja did get the infection from his uncle, whose blood was given to him when he fell ill recently. The doctor did not bother to check if the blood was infected with HIV. Doctor Tej Singh told the parents that the child required blood transfusion as he was anaemic. As the blood group of Raja’s uncle matched with that of the child, the doctors went ahead with the transfusion, but without checking the donor’s blood.

 A few months ago,  the child fell ill again. Blood tests conducted at the Banaras Hindu University Medical College Hospital and at some other reputed laboratories revealed that he was HIV positive. The doctors then got the parents and the uncle tested for HIV and found the infection in uncle’s blood.

While the doctor denied  charges, chief medical officer Ravidra Singh said  a probe would be conducted into the matter.

The parents have moved the court seeking a compensation of Rs 10 lakh and action against the doctor.