HIV blood transfused to pregnant woman; Bihar sacks lab tech for clearing infected blood sample

The Nalanda district magistrate has appointed a three-member committee of doctors, under the civil surgeon, to check for lapses and penalise the guilty

The Bihar government Sunday sacked a laboratory technician (LT), who allegedly collected HIV-infected blood from a donor that was later transfused to a pregnant woman at the district hospital in Nalanda, 63 km south-east of Patna, said officials.

HIV blood donor’s sample had tested non-reactive when he tested it on the rapid screening kit, lab technician has claimed. (HT photo)

The health department is now keeping close tabs on the woman and child and testing their blood samples on weekly basis to see if they have been infected by HIV/AIDS.

Santosh Kumar, a contractual LT of the Bihar State AIDS Control Society (BSACS), was sacked for lapses in duty. He, however, claimed that the government had acted in haste and sacked him without conducting a proper inquiry.

“The authorities should conduct a re-test of the blood sample of the donor on the rapid screening kit and see the result for themselves,” said Kumar.

Kumar claimed that the HIV blood donor’s sample had tested non-reactive when he tested it on the rapid screening kit, raising doubts about the efficacy of the kits bought by the state government. He also demanded that an FIR be lodged against the donor for concealing facts that he was HIV-positive and donated blood by concealing facts about his disease.

The government has already ordered an enquiry into it. The Nalanda district magistrate has appointed a three-member committee of doctors, under the civil surgeon, to check for lapses and penalise the guilty.

A male, with an A-positive blood group, donated blood on November 3 in exchange for one unit of blood (350 ml) for his wife, who was admitted for delivery at the sadar (district) hospital. The donor had allegedly concealed the fact that he was HIV positive and on antiretroviral drugs for the past 8-10 years.

Kumar, who was on duty at the state government-run blood bank on the sadar hospital campus at Biharsharif, claimed the sample tested negative for the five mandatory screening tests for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV, syphilis and malaria.

The blood, thus collected, was stored in the inventory of the sadar hospital blood bank for circulation and administered to another pregnant woman, who came there for caesarian delivery on November 5.

“We have an ELISA reader machine for the confirmatory test of blood samples. The officials should have cross-checked the result on the ELISA reader, before storing the infected blood for circulation” said a BSACS official, who requested anonymity.

“The ELISA reader machine at our blood bank is not functional in absence of testing kits. I have written on two-three occasions to the civil surgeon for procurement and making the machine functional,” said Rajesh Kumar, treasurer of the Indian Red Cross Society-managed government blood bank at Biharsharif.

The deputy superintendent of the Nalanda sadar hospital had on November 25 issued a show-cause notice to the medical officer in charge of the blood bank. He had, in turn, sought an explanation from Kumar, who replied to it a day later.

Dr Upendra Kumar Sinha, retired chief medical officer of the blood bank at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), blamed the government for purchasing outdated rapid screening kits.

“At PMCH, we used to test blood samples on fourth-generation P24 antigen testing kits, which has a 14-day window period. However, the government has provided a third-generation testing kit at Biharsharif. Such testing kits have a window period of 30-45 days from the date of being infected. These days we have modern Chemiluminescent Assay kits, with a window period of less than 5-6 days. The government should invest in them,” he said.

“It is only in advance case of HIV/AIDS that the viral load is not detected in screening, but normally such patients are so weak and thin that one can easily make out by their appearance that they are HIV/AIDS infected,” added Sinha, now the chief medical officer of the blood bank at the Mahavir Vatsalya Aspataal.