Jharkhand: 10-year-old thalassemia patient tests HIV positive after transfusion; 6th child infected in blood safety crisis

KODERMA: A 10-year-old boy with thalassemia has tested positive for HIV after transfusions at a govt hospital in the state, making him the sixth child to be infected since last month during treatment at state-run facilities amid a deepening blood safety crisis and crackdown.

While the latest case surfaced Sunday over transfusions at Koderma Sadar Hospital, the previous five children were infected at a govt sadar hospital in West Singhbhum’s Chaibasa whose blood bank had been operating without a valid licence since 2023.


The infections have highlighted gross irregularities in blood banks across the state. CM Hemant Soren last week suspended two top West Singhbhum health officials and announced aid of Rs 2 lakh for each of the five affected children. Three days ago, Jharkhand high court rapped the state govt for not following standard operating procedures in blood transfusions.

In Koderma, the 10-year-old had been undergoing blood transfusions at Sadar Hospital in Koderma for nine years as part of his treatment for thalassemia. He is suspected to have contracted HIV during one of the sessions. He tested positive for HIV earlier this year at Rims in Ranchi when he was there for an operation related to his spleen, the child’s father claimed.

So the doctors reportedly decided not to carry on with the operation. The boy then began receiving treatment for the HIV infection. The child’s father, a barber, expressed disbelief, saying no one else in their family had tested positive for HIV before.
Thalassemia patients only contract HIV if exposed to the virus through an external source, indicating a high probability of contaminated blood transfusions and a wider systemic failure.

In Oct this year, the spleen operation was conducted on the child after the doctors found it possible, the father further said.
Koderma civil surgeon Dr Anil Kumar confirmed the boy was treated at Sadar Hospital but was silent on the quality of blood given to him, admitting only that a previous HIV screening was based on a “less reliable kit method”. He also said there is possibility the boy contracted it from somewhere else.

Since Saturday, the more rigorous ELISA test (Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay) for HIV detection has been started, Kumar said, adding all other 23 thalassemia patients in the district are being tested. He insisted that all blood safety guidelines and protocols were “now being strictly adhered to” to plug any loopholes.

Jharkhand additional chief secretary of health Ajoy Kumar Singh has ordered an audit of blood banks. Officials said all 24 districts had submitted their reports by Saturday and these were being compiled.