According to a report by the Kerala State AIDS Control Society, the blood given to a nine year-old girl during transfusion at Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram was tested before the process, and HIV was not detected, but the same was detected at a later stage.
Kerala Aids Society gives clean chit to Regional Cancer Centre. Read on to know more.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Clean chit given by Keral State AIDS Society to RCC.
- A nine year-old girl had contracted HIV.
- The RCC lacks facility to detect the virus in window period.
According to a report by the Kerala State AIDS Control Society (KSACS), the blood given to a nine year-old girl during transfusion at Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) in Thiruvananthapuram was tested before the process, and HIV was not detected.
Also, the report by KSACS Director, Dr R Ramesh, also states that the RCC is not appropriately equipped so as to detect HIV during the window period, ie the time frame from injection to a positive result.
A clean chit has been given by the KSACS to the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) authorities after the girl contracted HIV during the blood transfusion procedure done at the Centre, pointing out in its report that the RCC is not well-equipped to detect the virus when the window period is going on.
Dr Ramesh said about the matter, "Always there is a two to three weeks window period to find whether it is HIV positive. Hence, in this case also, it has been found that the blood stored in the blood bank and all the samples collected there were properly tested. Hence the RCC authorities cannot be blamed."
He also said that for the purpose of making available competent equipment for the detection of the virus during window period, due aid from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) will have to be taken.
KSACS will soon be writing to NACO, asking for help in this context.
"In all government medical college hospitals and RCC, we need such testing facilities" he stated.
In was also found that the blood components were given to the girl for nearly 49 times and during each time, the blood sample was scrutinized.
Therefore, it's clear that the RCC authorities had taken all due steps to ensure that the blood was safe.
"We cannot blame the RCC for the facility they do not have," added Ramesh.
Notably, the committee as appointed by the state government, headed by the Joint Director of Medical education, Dr Sreekumari, shall submit its report to the government on Tuesday.
An internal committee was also incorporated by RCC director Dr Paul Sebastian.
"The report is ready and we will be handing it over to the government on Tuesday," according to Dr Paul.
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