14 Kids Receiving UP Hospital Blood Transfusions Test Positive for Hepatitis and HIV

Doctors at a Kanpur hospital have reported that 14 children receiving blood transfusions have been diagnosed with infections including Hepatitis B, C, and HIV. This adds to the health challenges these minors were already facing due to thalassemia, which initially required the transfusions. The incident was reported at the government-run Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) Hospital, where officials indicated the fault could lie with ineffective tests for viruses that are meant to be procedurally carried out on donated blood, although the source of the infection itself may be hard to pinpoint.

Arun Arya, head of pediatrics department at LLR and nodal officer for this centre, said this is a cause for concern and shows the risks blood transfusion involves.“We have referred the hepatitis patients to the gastroenterology department and the HIV patients to the referral centre in Kanpur,” he said.

Regular Screening and Blood Transfusions for Thalassemia Patients in Focus

At present, 180 thalassemia patients receive blood transfusion at the centre, which screens each of them every six months for any viral diseases.The 14 children had received blood transfusions at private and district hospitals, and in some cases locally, when they required it urgently.

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder caused when the body does not make enough of hemoglobin, an important part of red blood cells (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Thalassemia

Go to source). It is a treatable disorder that can be managed with blood transfusions and chelation therapy. Arya said the blood transfusion took place during the window period.

“This seems to be the case because the children are already battling a serious issue and are now at a greater health risk.”According to him, when someone donates blood, the blood is tested to make sure it is safe for use. However, there is a period of time after someone was infected when the virus could not be detected by the tests -- this is called the “window period”.“At the time of transfusion, the doctors should have vaccinated the children against Hepatitis B,” he added.

The 14 children are aged between the ages of 6 and 16, are among the 180 patients. Of the infected children, seven tested positive for Hepatitis B, five for Hepatitis C and two for HIV, said Arya. The children come from different parts of the state, including Kanpur City, Dehat, Farrukhabad, Auraiyya, Etawah and Kannauj.

“District-level officials will trace the root of infection under the Viral Hepatitis Control Programme. The team will look for the place of infection, both for hepatitis and HIV,” said a senior official of the Uttar Pradesh National Health Mission.

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Reference:

1. Thalassemia - (https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/thalassemia/index.html)

Source-IANS