India probes transfusions after 23 kids get HIV
PATNA: With three more children dying,encephalitis is now suspected to have claimed 19 young lives in Bihar, an official said on Monday even as the state is running short of kits to diagnose the disease.
The three children died at Anugrah Narain Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) in Gaya, about 100 km from here, said a district health official. Sixteen children had earlier died of suspected encephalitis.
The children reported high fever, followed by bouts of unconsciousness and convulsions.
Ditaram Prasad, superintendent of the hospital, said till date nearly 50 children with suspected encephalitis had been admitted there for treatment.
"Most of the children were from rural areas of Gaya and neighbouring districts," he said. "More than a dozen children are battling for life," he said.
Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said measures were being taken to check the spread of the disease.
A district administration official said suspected encephalitis hit Gaya in 2009, 2007 and 2005 and killed dozens of children.
Fear of encephalitis is haunting the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) here with 34 samples having tested positive in the last one and a half months.
Ironically, the state health department is running short of Japanese encephalitis kits to test for the infection.
"In view of the seriousness of the issue, ANMCH and PMCH have sent an SOS to the National Institute of Virology, Pune to send the kits soon to diagnose the brain fever," an official of the health department, told IANS.
Two months ago, 51 children died in Muzaffarpur district but the state government is yet to confirm these as encephalitis deaths.
Last month, union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Rajya Sabha that clinical and epidemiological data suggested it was an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome, resulting in 150 cases and 55 deaths, mostly among children.
In a written reply, the minister said these cases were reported from early June to mid-July from Muzaffarpur and its bordering areas in Bihar.
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timesofindia.indiatimes.com/19-children-dead-in-Bihar-encephalitis-suspected/articleshow/9954025.cms
AHMEDABAD, India — At least 23 children who received blood transfusions have tested positive for HIV, Indian officials said on Monday as authorities launched an investigation into a government hospital.
The infected children, aged between five to 10 years, suffer from thalassaemia, a rare genetic disorder that requires regular transfusions.
Parents said their children received fresh blood at a public hospital in Junagadh district in the western state of Gujarat, 315 kilometres (195 miles) from the city of Ahmedabad.
"We have initiated an inquiry into the case. This is a very serious matter," the state's principal health secretary Rajesh Kishore told AFP without giving further details.
All the 23 children had received free blood transfusions between January and August, reports said.
Earlier, Gujarat's health minister Jay Narayan Vyas told reporters that the children may have been infected after receiving blood "at some other places" but parents have blamed tainted blood at the government hospital.
He also said some pre-transfusion tests at another state-run hospital had found that the children already had been infected with HIV.
The Indian government estimates that about 2.5 million Indians are living with HIV.
Copyright © 2011 AFP. All rights reserved
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19 children dead in Bihar, encephalitis suspected
The three children died at Anugrah Narain Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH) in Gaya, about 100 km from here, said a district health official. Sixteen children had earlier died of suspected encephalitis.
The children reported high fever, followed by bouts of unconsciousness and convulsions.
Ditaram Prasad, superintendent of the hospital, said till date nearly 50 children with suspected encephalitis had been admitted there for treatment.
"Most of the children were from rural areas of Gaya and neighbouring districts," he said. "More than a dozen children are battling for life," he said.
Health minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey said measures were being taken to check the spread of the disease.
A district administration official said suspected encephalitis hit Gaya in 2009, 2007 and 2005 and killed dozens of children.
Fear of encephalitis is haunting the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) here with 34 samples having tested positive in the last one and a half months.
Ironically, the state health department is running short of Japanese encephalitis kits to test for the infection.
"In view of the seriousness of the issue, ANMCH and PMCH have sent an SOS to the National Institute of Virology, Pune to send the kits soon to diagnose the brain fever," an official of the health department, told IANS.
Two months ago, 51 children died in Muzaffarpur district but the state government is yet to confirm these as encephalitis deaths.
Last month, union Health and Family Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the Rajya Sabha that clinical and epidemiological data suggested it was an outbreak of acute encephalitis syndrome, resulting in 150 cases and 55 deaths, mostly among children.
In a written reply, the minister said these cases were reported from early June to mid-July from Muzaffarpur and its bordering areas in Bihar.
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timesofindia.indiatimes.com/19-children-dead-in-Bihar-encephalitis-suspected/articleshow/9954025.cms
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