Child tests HIV positive after blood transfusion at GMCH

A three-and-a-half-year-old boy has tested HIV positive after multiple blood transfusions during treatment for his burn injuries at Gauhati Medical College and Hospital.
The child of a daily wage earner's family from Kamrup district had been admitted to the state-run hospital with 40 per cent burn injuries in April last year.
"The boy was discharged from the hospital in October 2015. During his treatment 10-12 operations took place and multiple blood transfusions were done from our internal blood bank," GMCH Superintendent Babul K Bezbaruah told PTI here today.
The child was readmitted on March 29 this year for two further operations, he added.

"Before operation when we tested his blood on March 31 it was found to be infected with HIV positive virus," Bezbaruah said, adding the hospital does not have any health information of the child for the last six month.
He declined to confirm if the virus was infected after taking blood from GMCH's blood bank as both parents do not suffer from the disease.

"We have formed a five-member committee to look into the incident. Only after a thorough enquiry, we will be able to tell anything in this regard," Bezbaruah added.
The doctors have already operated on the child on April 28 for burn related injury and one more operation is due, Bezbaruah said.

"The child is still admitted to GMCH and is under treatment. We are taking full care of the child at the moment," he added.