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Blood donor with HIV infected at least 21 others
(AFP)
Updated: 2005-12-04 11:23 An HIV carrier in northeast
China who gave blood 15 times before he was diagnosed with the virus unknowingly
infected at least 21 people, state media have reported.
The infected donor, surnamed Song, from Dehui city in Jilin province tested
positive for HIV on October 20, by which time 25 people had already received his
blood, the China Youth Daily newspaper said.
The 41-year-old man gave blood 15 times to the central blood bank of Dehui
between January 2003 and June 2004 without having been diagnosed as an HIV
carrier, it said.
The case only came to light after a female farmer surnamed Wang died
recently, having contracted a "mysterious disease" which was eventually
diagnosed as AIDS.
She received the tainted blood during an operation in March 2003. Her case
was reported to local authorities, who traced the blood back to Song.
An official investigation found that a total of 18 recipients of Song's blood
have been infected with the HIV virus, of whom, three, including Wang, developed
AIDS and died, Xinhua news agency said.
Song's two sex partners, as well as one of their spouses, were also diagnosed
with HIV, it said.
Authorities have taken disciplinary action against six Dehui health officials
and detained 11 staff at the blood bank.
China says there are about 840,000 HIV-positive people in China, although the
United Nations says the figure could be much higher and has warned that the
number of infected people could rise to 10 million by 2010.
Chinese government spending on AIDS prevention has risen to 800 million yuan
(99 million US dollars) this year, up from 100 million yuan in 2002, according
to official figures.
Health Minister Gao Qiang said Wednesday the government would be able to
achieve its long-term goal of keeping the number of HIV patients to under 1.5
million by 2010.
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