Maharashtra: 8-month-old girl infected by HIV after receiving blood; probe ordered

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The Maharashtra government on Thursday ordered probe after an eight-month-old girl was found to have received blood contaminated with HIV in Akola district.

Public Health Minister Rajesh Tope said he had asked local health officials to submit a report within three days.

"I have ordered 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,¿ he told 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.

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"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.

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