Woman accuses Kilpauk Medical College of transfusing HIV infected blood

CHENNAI: After the transfusion of HIV infected blood to a pregnant woman in Virudhunagar district sent shockwaves across the state, another woman from TN accused Kilpauk Medical College of transfusing HIV infected blood in May this year, when she was five months pregnant. However, health minister C. Vijaybaskar and dean of KMC P. Vasanthamani denied the allegations.

The 30-year-old woman from Mangadu alleged that she had become infected with HIV virus after she underwent a blood transfusion at KMC. Pushpa (name changed) said that she was undergoing treatment at a primary health center in Mangadu and underwent a blood test when she was four months pregnant at Sri Muthukumaran Medical College Hospital & Research Institute in Chikkarayapuram, near Mangadu.

The blood test reports said that she was anaemic, while she tested negative for HIV. She was then given two units of blood at Kilpauk Medical College after admission on May 5 and discharged on May 15, 2018. She then underwent a blood test at Mangadu

Later, the woman visited KMC for a regular check-up on August 16 and a blood test was done for Pushpa as part of routine check-up that confirmed the presence of the HIV virus. Following this, she was enrolled for ART on August 20 at KMC and was put on treatment to prevent the child from getting the virus. Pushpa gave birth to a male child through caesarean delivery on September 15, 2018. The inborn tested negative for HIV.

Kumar (name changed), husband of Pushpa alleged, "It was because of the blood transfusion at the hospital that my wife got infected with HIV. My 5 year old child and I tested negative for the same and my wife didn't have the infection before the transfusion."

"When we brought the issue to the hospital authorities, they said they could only prevent the child from contracting the infection and my wife cannot be completely cured of the infection. The hospital denied taking the responsibility of her condition, " alleged Kumar.

Later in December, Pushpa wrote to Director of Medical Services regarding the same and also complained of medical negligence at the hospital to health minister C Vijayabhaskar, health secretary J. Radhakrishnan and Dean of KMC Dr P. Vasanthamani.

"The DMS wrote to KMC dean on December 5 seeking an inquiry report on the issue. I formed a two-member committee to investigate the matter. The committee report revealed that the blood transfused on the woman was HIV negative; therefore, the infection was not due to blood transfusion at hospital. We use disposable syringes, so infection can't have transmitted through the syringes," said Dr P Vasanthamani.

Denying the allegations, Dr Vasanthamani said that after having tracked the donor, we tested him for HIV and the reports were negative. 

"There was no evidence of blood test at the Mangadu Medical Center and the woman did not produce original documents relating to the same. A number is allotted to the patient when tested for HIV, but the documents produced by her had no number. Due to suspicion over the first HIV test, we tested the couple again and found that she was HIV positive," she said.

The couple said  they did not want the issue to surface due to the social stigma associated with the disease. However, after the Virudhunagar incident, we decided to bring up the issue in front of the public," said Kumar.

Health minister C. Vijayabaskar denied the allegations and said that the state health department can give any word on the same only after the investigations. Meanwhile the revenue department officials visited the residence of the woman in Mangadu for additional information to report to the state health 
department.