Hospital denies blood transfusion scandal after 14 children ‘infected with HIV and hepatitis’

Central screening showed up major infections in patients aged between six and 16, according to a senior doctor

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A senior doctor says 14 children who received blood transfusions at hospitals in northern India contracted hepatitis and HIV infections.

The children, aged between six and 16 years, were all being treated for thalassemia, a condition that affects the body’s ability to produce haemoglobin and healthy blood cells.

The 14 cases were found during screening tests at the Lala Lajpat Rai Hospital (LLRH) in Kanpur city, Uttar Pradesh, according to the head of the paediatrics department at the hospital Arun Arya, who spoke to the Hindustan Times earlier this week.

Dr Arya told the newspaper that of 180 patients screened, seven tested positive for hepatitis B, five for hepatitis C and two for HIV.

The medical college attached to the LLRH hospital has denied the report, calling it “baseless”, and said Dr Arya was not authorised to speak to the media.

According to Dr Arya’s statement to the newspaper, the 14 children had been treated at various facilities across the state before their infections were revealed during the central screening at LLRH.

“The children are already battling a serious issue and are now at a greater health risk,” he was quoted as saying.

Dr Arya said while it is hard to pinpoint the origin of the infections, it could have been the result of ineffective screening tests carried out on donated blood.

“We have referred the hepatitis patients to the gastroenterology department and the HIV patients to the referral centre in Kanpur,” Dr Arya said.

He said the children should have been vaccinated against hepatitis B at the time of transfusion.

At a press conference, Dr Sanjay Kala, the principal of the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Medical College that is affiliated with LLRH, said “not even a single patient with HIV or hepatitis infection has been found here since 2019”.

“A letter has been sent to the state government requesting disciplinary action against him,” Dr Kala said of Dr Arya, who was present at the press conference but did not speak.

“So far, not a single thalassaemic patient has got infected because of the transfusion done in LLRH,” said Dr Kala.

The reports earlier this week sparked a wave of criticism directed at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state, with opposition political leaders calling out chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s government.

The chief of Congress, the country’s main opposition party, called the allegations “an unforgivable crime”.

“The double-engine government has made our health system doubly sick. In a government hospital in Kanpur, UP, infected blood was given to 14 children suffering from thalassemia, due to which these children got serious diseases like HIV AIDS and hepatitis B, C,” Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said.

“This serious negligence is shameful.”

Akhilesh Yadav, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister who leads the opposition Samajwadi Party, demanded an investigation and strict punishment for those responsible.

“It is a very serious matter that 14 children got infected with HIV and hepatitis due to transfusion of infected blood in Uttar Pradesh. This negligence should be immediately investigated and such a fatal mistake should be punished strictly,” he said.

The Independent has reached out to the hospital authorities for comment.