Maharashtra: 8-month-old receives HIV-infected blood in Akola district, probe ordered

AKOLA: In a shocking incident, an eight-month-old girl was found to have received blood contaminated with HIV in Akola district, post which the Maharashtra government has ordered a probe into the incident.
Public health minister Rajesh Tope said he had asked local health officials to submit a report within three days. "I have ordered an inquiry. We will take strict action against the guilty.No one will be spared as this carelessness has put the girl's life in danger,” PTI quoted him telling reporters in Jalna.
As per the girl's family, she was given blood sourced from a blood bank in Akola on a local doctor's instructions as her white blood cell count was very low. She seemed to have recovered after receiving the transfusion. But later she began to fall sick frequently.
“She was taken to Amravati last month after she started falling sick. HIV test was conducted as there was no clear diagnosis of any ailment, and it came out positive," said a senior health official.
"Her parents tested negative for HIV. Then doctors found that she had undergone blood transfusion in Akola," he said. "Every blood bank has to carry out several tests including HIV for donated blood. We will have to find out why the HIV infection in the blood stock was not detected," the official added.
-- With inputs from PTI